


Humble and Not so Humble Beginings

by DigitalMess90



Series: Making Demons Better [1]
Category: Hazbin Hotel (Web Series)
Genre: BAMF Charlie Magne, Blood and Injury, Drug Use, F/F, F/M, Fallen Angels, Gen, Kidnapping, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Torture, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:35:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29253057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DigitalMess90/pseuds/DigitalMess90
Summary: AU based on Charlie not starting the hotel but ending up there anyway, because she's too busy being a baddass bitch. See how the characters meet, laugh, cry and love (and of course have murderous psychotic breaks.)  These chapters are not in chronological order but I think that you'll get what I mean. First part of a series, Characters get introduced in this one, Hi-jinks occurs in the second. Hope you enjoy.Not all the relationships are romance, some are just friends. You'll find out of course.
Relationships: Angel Dust & Cherri Bomb (Hazbin Hotel), Charlie Magne/Vaggie, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Series: Making Demons Better [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2147982
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	1. Charlie

**Author's Note:**

> Hello my darlings, my exile has come to an end and what an exciting time it is, I thought I would start the year off with something new as I work on ending what I had already started. Without playing the world's smallest violin I had a rather distressing new year and since then, if something could go wrong it did. But never fear I was always thinking about what to write next. I've already written the first 3 chapters so I'll update it on Monday.

Charlotte Magne’s birth was kept secret. Too many things could go wrong, too much deceit and backstabbing around a naive newborn. Lucifer took precautions and kept her locked away in the palace because had the tables been turned Lucifer would do what many would try. Hell was dog-eat-dog, and some of the dogs did just that too. It was almost standard practice that a high ranking demon would be born in secret, pregnancies weren’t rare in hell, births on the other hand very much were, sort of.

You could put almost everyone in hell into two categories, sinners or hellborn. A sinner was a mortal soul punished and sent down to the inferno to spend eternity in hell. A hellborn or demon was a creature born into hell, coalescing emotions and magic forming up to create a new ‘life’. Most of these demons were born when the first angels fell, their bodies still had the lingering touch of the creator and it diffused into the hellish landscape and imps and other foul creatures were birthed. A demon could mate, have children and propagate, they were born, lived and eventually died in hell. Not through old age of course but accidents do happen and those poor little saps didn’t get the same do-over that sinners got, one life and that’s it. Naturally it made imps rather flighty, enough so they had to go off and form their own little city where the only crime really punishable was murder, it was sweet in its own way. Other imps usually fell in line in service to the rich or powerful, hoping to live their existence in relative safety from the protection against the rest of hell. Switching loyalty in an instance if their master was ever brought low. 

Sinners couldn’t get pregnant, a condemned soul does not have the capacity to bring another soul into existence, that right is reserved for angels, demons and the living. Sinners also couldn’t permanently die, pain yes, they could very much feel every agony and punishment rained down upon their bodies but given enough time things would regrow or a new body would form from the sky as a flaming meteor to smash them back down to hell.

Weapons forged by angels could kill a sinner dead, properly dead of course and hellish weapons in turn could do absolutely nothing to an angel, cosmic balance because Lucifer certainly would have waged war on heaven if they did. Both sinners and demons exhibited unnatural powers, either from the exaggerated sin that condemned them or the emotions that coalesced, or their parentage. Other than that it was just regular bodies, bones that could break, skin and organs that could be torn asunder, pain was so easy to inflict with their new bodies that often a scrap or fight would be to the ‘death’ and the pain of regenerating a painful lesson.

Fallen angels and their non-fallen kin were the true anomaly. Created by god himself so neither mortal nor born from swirling magic, it was known that an angel could only be harmed by another angelic weapon, either tainted or a stolen pure one, it was curious that when an exterminator met their end in hell they did not come back, true death awaited angels who fought in the pit. The fallen ones had not quite the same invulnerability, having been steeped in the infernal pit that it soaked into their very being, they could be damaged by the hellish denizens but could not be slain by angels. Both had incredible regeneration, what could take a sinner a month of painful regeneration an angel could do in a matter of hours. It had been surmised by those who had studied such things that angels bound themselves to their plane of existence, you couldn’t kill an angel in heaven permanently as they were part of it, the same too with the fallen ones could not be slain in hell.

It was probably lucky then that fallen angels could be counted only with a couple of severed hands, so few were their number, cosmic creatures that ruled over hell, lucky for them that they spread out across the infinite abyss, too arrogant and preening to really share space. The seven strongest ruled over all of hell from their different palaces and cities, Asmodeus the lustful, Belphegor the glutton, Mammon the greedy, Abadon the sloth, Satan the wrathful, Beelzebub the envious and finally Lucifer the prideful. Lucifer was self-proclaimed king and the others were princes, his pride couldn’t stand for anything less than to be on top and the others knew this well enough to simply let him have it, it wasn’t a sure thing that he truly was the strongest but all of them had a silent understanding staying out of each other’s business and nothing would upset the balance. 

There was of course always the exception to the rule and in this instance it took the form of Beelzebub not being able to leave Lucifer alone, the lord of flies couldn’t help but visit Pentagram city several times a year and stay as Lucifer’s guest, relishing the chance to see that gorgeous wife of his. So much to Lucifer’s annoyance Beelzebub was one of the few outside the palace to know of Charlie’s existence in the beginning. He scoffed at the idea of Lucifer hiding away a potential half-angel, and with a good strong mix of succubus too! Surely she would be a little powerhouse when she was older. Not having a family of his own, Beelzebub couldn’t help himself but worm his way in, and so Uncle Beebe had been created and a worse role model you could not ask for. 

Charlie was homeschooled, by a gaggle of imp teachers, and after the casual death threats and torture, were incredibly motivated to make sure that Charlie understood English, Latin, infernal and Celestial, too many deals were written in awkward languages and if Lucifer ever let his little apple out of the palace he would be damned if he was going to do it with her being unprepared. Charlie however, had other ideas and found it far too enjoyable to skip classes and hide using unconventional methods, clawing her way up the doors and walls and hang off the ceiling just above like a possessed child was one of her favourites as the small imps would scurry underneath her frantically looking for the missing princess. 

Learning about the war in the heavens was boring! Learning about the fall of humanity was double boring, drawing pictures and playing was fun! So gosh darn was Charlie going to have fun instead. The only lessons she ever took seriously were the ones directly taught by her parents. Innocence even in youth was stamped out faster than an insect infestation, Charlie was taught about how to use her succubus bloodline to seduce mortals, demons… anyone with higher brain functions really, how to control hearts and minds and take different shapes, that had made for a fun seventh birthday. Lucifer lessons were more grooming Charlie into what it would be to rule over sinners and demons alike, to be feared and respected and be able to protect oneself at a moments notice. 

Since Charlie wasn’t allowed to leave the palace she didn’t exactly have friends, she had playmates certainly and other creatures that would be vetted before being allowed anywhere Lucifer’s little bundle of hellspawn. Lucifer and Lilith loved each other in the sense they were eternally bonded but neither had any true sense of empathy and that filtered down into Charlie, she was a true sociopath by the time she hit her teens. Getting her way with smiles and laughter amongst the staff, stealing cakes and treats and anything else she fancied before blaming someone else completely and even leaving crumbs of false evidence, Lucifer couldn’t be prouder as he knowingly punished the wrong perpetrator each and every time as Charlie watched from a nearby doorway. Despite all this Charlie grew up with a sense of wonder and enchantment about the things she’d never seen; rainbows, clouds and shooting stars… not to be confused with demons or souls that had been set alight and fired out of a cannon across the horizon. As far as a demon went, she was probably the tamest of the bunch, no insane bloodlust or disgusting desires, it seems that she had filtered and blended the best of both her parents whilst only inheriting a small amount of sin from either. Unfortunately the closer anyone came to ‘good’ in hell, the weaker they appeared to be, Lilith knew this, Lucifer knew this. So Charlie was to remain guarded and in the palace until they could be absolutely sure that she could take care of herself. 

***

A large marble chamber without a single scrap of cloth to be seen, it echoed even the tiniest sound so for the creature tied down and being flensed slowly and painfully, it made for an orchestra of agony as Lucifer tended to the torture himself, the chamber doors open and a rather cheery blonde girl with a pale face stepped in.

“D-aaady.” Her sing-song sweetness betrayed by the cold in her eyes. Lucifer didn’t turn around but continued, a long curved knife slicing layers of fat from the creature's unrecognizable torso.

“Yes my little apple?” Charlie tilted her head and skipped up to stand beside her father, head tilted curiously to one side, distracted by the torture in front of her.

“What’d he do?” She had to raise her voice as the screeching was reaching a fever pitch, Lucifer paused for a moment.

“Disrespected my choice in Overlord, and sometimes you have to remind them, his lifeless corpse will be tied to the front of Valentino’s club.” Charlie frowned and tapped her chin.

“Valentino… who’s that?” 

“Just a man who runs entertainment.” 

“Will I ever meet him?”

“I hope not my little apple, and if you ever do, I’ll skin him too.” 

“Daaaad, you can’t keep me cooped up forever, I need to- Dad! Will you shut him up!” Charlie was frowning at the screaming sinner and Lucifer rolled his eyes at her impatience but he felt that this pathetic creature was close to its limit, with a flourish he summoned his sword and plunged it straight through its heart, it twitched and gurgled before going silent. Charlie sighed.

“Thank you, anyway I need to get out eventually, I can’t stay here for my entire life.”

“And you will, but there’s still much for you to learn.” 

“Learn? Please… what’s the point of mom teaching me how to seduce if I can’t practice, all I've got is these imps and they’re about as resilient as a wet paper bag! And you teach me how to strike a moving target from a hundred yards with my trident but what’s the point!?!” Lucifer pulled out the blade and cleaned it free from viscera with a white handkerchief that he summoned before discarding it to burst into flames.

“You’re frustrated my sweet seedling, but be patient.” Charlie’s frown only deepened.

“What about the cleanse? Let me go out and have some fun! No sinner or demon will be out then!” Lucifer’s back straightened, he had kept that detail secret for a reason.

“Who told you about that?”

“Uncle Beebe, he told me all about how exterminators come down and slaughter any sinner or demon that they come across, come on! It’ll be so much fun!” Lucifer internally scowled and his smile turned artificial, he would have to have words… painful words with the lord of flies.

“You’re not ready Charlotte, maybe after another couple of decades of training.” Charlie’s face turned from that of sweet pleading to angry disgust.

“DECADES?! I can’t wait decades dad, I’m sooooo bored, they can’t even kill me, I’ll just heal. What's the problem?” Lucifer sighed.

“The problem isn’t them, it's the sinners who will take advantage of your weakened state, never show weakness Charlie, they’ll be on you like wolves to a lamb.” Charlie waved her hands around exasperated.

“Then I’ll get rid of them too! Honestly dad, I need to get out. I can’t take much more of this, I want to meet people, I want to meet my people. You say I’m going to rule one day but what good is that if I’ve never met them!” Lucifer eyes narrowed.

“No Charlotte and that’s my final word on the matter.” Charlie face screwed up for a moment, she let out an irritated scream and stormed out, slamming the door on her exit. Lucifer rolled his eyes and moved back to what had previously been occupying his time, a growing irritation in his head, he wouldn’t call Beelzebub instead he would go to his domain. 

***

A palace fitting the lord of flies indeed, it smelt of a rotting carcass not that it bothered Lucifer, corpse or a fresh field of daisies it made no difference, approaching the throne room the doors were opened by a pair of very pestilent looking imps. Entering the large hall it seemed that Beelzebub had chosen a new form for this millennium. He seemed to be not one but a thousand writhing insects that formed the shape of a roughly humanoid body, wearing a suit because of course he still had a dress sense, even if his eyes were hollow and just the low droning of bluebottles could be heard when centipede lips coiled around in a large smile.

“Lucifer, what brings this little visit? You never leave that pretty roost of yours!” Lucifer kept his hands gripped around his apple staff, if he didn’t he was liable to summon his sword, the fury in his blood was rising at the thought that this creature had bent his little apple’s ear.

“I’m here because of Charlotte.” There was a pealing laughter, like a death knell across a corpse field.

“Is little Charlotte asking after her Uncle Beebe?” Lucifer sighed.

“Please stop calling yourself that, no I’m not here on her behalf.” Beelzebub blinked once and a wide grin that seemed to stretch far wider than his face would allow appeared.

“Then perhaps you’re here regarding Mammon’s plan to build a theme park on his domain… awfully similar to that funny little place of yours.” Lucifer’s internally seethed and gritted his teeth, he would need to have another conversation with Mammon and his very liberal ideas about what constituted intellectual property. Pushing the rising hellish lawsuit that would no doubt take place aside, Lucifer continued. 

“You spoke about the exterminations to my daughter.” Beelzebub shrugged and reclined back on his throne, insects squirming and writhing as his back settled. They both knew he wasn’t going to stop referring to himself as uncle, it was an awkward truth that sat poignantly in the middle of the room.

“Of course I did, She’s bored Lucifer, bored with living in the castle, you know how much of an adventurer you are, and Lilith is for that matter so Charlie gets it from you, let her stretch her wings! She needs to get out there and get some kills under her belt for hells’ sake.” Lucifer hated when Beelzebub talked to him like that, and even worse he hated it when he was right too. Charlie was almost as stubborn as he was and this situation with his devil daughter would not go away no matter how much he put his foot down on the subject. From the widening smirk from the insect face, Beelzebub knew he was right too.

“I hate it when you look like that. You look like my carriage window after I travel through the bog of the lost.” A wet gurgling laugh and with that Lucifer turned to leave, he didn’t need to hear the stupid retort, he had not won and he knew it and it rankled him badly, he would no doubt take it out on some poor sinner on the way back to Pentagram. 

***

Charlie had never been happier, and it was a true happiness, for whatever reason her father had begrudgingly allowed her to leave the palace and Charlie was giddy with excitement, the next extermination was only in a few hours and she was going to debut on that night. Getting a tight black bodice on and dark red trousers, she did a small spin by her wall length mirror and grinned. Finally, she was allowed out! She could finally see what hell had to offer, see what the city looked like in the streets and not just from the vaulted windows or in the palace grounds. Sure, it would be when everyone was cowering or being slaughtered, but it was still a start. A gentle knock at her door had Charlie glancing over and calling out.

“It’s open.” The door swung inwards as Lilith, queen of hell and ruler of all Succubi entered.

“Hello my darling, you’re looking wonderful this evening.” Charlie gave a twirl and a curtsey towards her mother, giggling.

“Thank you, I’m so excited mom! I get to go out, did dad tell you?” Lilith nodded her graceful smile never once leaving her face as she watched Charlie giddily doing up the buttons of her shirt. 

“You be careful out there, my sweet. If you like we could send a retainer with you.” Charlie clucked her tongue and half huffed in place sticking her head up in the air to glare at her mother with one eye.

“Moooom! It’s not the same if I’ve got a nanny!” Lilith let out a soft laugh as her daughter's rebellious streak grew a little wider.

“You know I only do it because I care, I love you darling.” Charlie half grumbled but went quiet.

“I love you too.” 

“Well be safe and have fun out there, I think your father has a cocktail night planned.” Charlie let out a small giggle.

“Don’t let him get too drunk on that Eden cider again, I remember when he almost burnt down the palace!” Lilith crossed the room and enveloped Charlie from behind with a warm and soft embrace, Charlie stopped doing up her clothes and just held her mother’s arms. Lilith broke apart and started heading towards the door, calling back as she did so.

“I’ll make sure your father doesn’t get into too much trouble, be safe Charlie… please.” Charlie rolled her eyes, this was the second or third time her mother had said that.

“Yes mom, I will.” Came the canned response and her mother smiled a little, shook her head and left Charlie to get ready to leave. She was going to have so much fun!

***

They stood silent lined up in rows, numbers beyond counting, a legion, a host. The time for words had passed and not a single figure moved. They were waiting for a call and the clock to strike midnight. No light shone here, in the darkness only the gloomy shape of wings and spears could be made out. It was a grim duty, one that they were made for and a dangerous path to tread. 

The floor seemed to shift and evaporate and suddenly red light was pouring from the floor as countless wings stretched to keep them aloft, below them a fiery city, the crown jewel of this hellish prison. Pentagram city, as one they descended like streaks of grey rain in a red sky. 

The extermination had begun. 

Across this infernal pit, the other cities had their own squads descending but to be assigned to pentagram was both an honour and a danger, the powerful lived here, overlords and demonic forces. Their angelic spears were worth a mountain of souls to these foul creatures, as they dived, the grey creatures spilt and changed course, moving into their assigned combat groups they swooped down to the screams and fire of those below.

They were efficient, lethal and unrelenting. A screaming devil scrambling to get to his feet and was knocked prone and sprawled across the pavement as a grey boot impacted hard into his back and a spear was driven into the base of his neck, with a twist the gurgling noise ended. The attacker stood tall ready to take flight, its grey complexion and dark curled horns already splattered from the viscera, the only thing clean was its angelic halo that burnt and scalded any blood or debris that came into contact with it. It’s shoulder suddenly jolted as a muzzle flashed from nearby, bullets failed to penetrate the surface of its being and its head snapped around to look at the shooter, a small reptile looking thing, it balked as it saw nothing had marked the exterminator and turned to run, quick as a flash, a spear sailed through the air and drove itself deep into the creature. It fell, never to move again but it wasn’t the only sinner there and someone picked up the spear, trying to arm itself. 

There was a sudden shudder as the angelic warrior saw those filthy hands touching its weapon, tainting it, staining it. Its hand twitched as tugging on a puppets thread and the spear lifted into the air, still being held onto by the now shocked would-be robber and dragged him straight towards his death, a hand crushed its windpipe and dropped it to the floor like a sack of bricks before driving the reclaimed spear through its head. Quickly looking around the chalk painted grinning face turned upwards as it sailed into the air to join the others. A jolting sensation ran straight through it and it quickly changed direction in mid-air, joined by more angels, they sailed down and into a quiet part of the city, it was a crime against heaven, the discarded headless corpse of one of their own lay broken upon the floor, its weapon missing. They of course would search but the murderer would be long gone with its trophy hidden. These incidents were rare, but they did happen. Suddenly a blaring sensation as the angelic host felt the same panicked emergency, there was something attacking them, something without fear and more importantly with a tainted divine weapon. Their squad was diverted, seeking out this thing that would disrupt their holiest of work and stop it, permanently, other flocks of angels were wordlessly diverting away from the area, it was better to cleanse elsewhere whilst a squad wiped out whatever was causing the disruption.

It wasn’t about time, they had all the time in the world, the cleanse stopped when enough sinning souls had been exterminated but it always felt… wrong. Angels being down in hell, like the air they flew through tried to taint and claw at them, whispering dark promises of power and debauchery. Their full masks filtered out nearly everything, but still it was an uneasy sensation to be in a place that condemned the evil and irredeemable As the exterminator flew through the air its fellows joined it, in perfect unison and synchronization now the full complement of five, five holy weapons… their existence was to kill, it's all they trained for, every day… every single heaven-forged day, until the cleanse would start again. They needed to, needed to be the most proficient killers inside the pit, sinners needed to fear them, flee from them and never try to fight because that would be inefficient. Swooping low they moved like a flock of predatory birds, and dove into the streets of pentagram city. There in an open spaced park was the assailant, A blonde haired woman with blood-red eyes and sharp horns, she was spinning her trident in her hands and pacing back and forth, but by the nine circles of hell, she seemed to be having the time of her life. 

Corpses of fallen exterminators littered the park, skewered or dismembered, but shockingly their weapons were untouched. This creature was not interested in stealing holy relics, clearly she was here for the carnage… a sadist. With lightning precision they streaked towards her, pairs of spears ready to impale her. Her eyes shifted to regard what was coming before she seemed to dance away, spinning her trident in a defensive wave to parry the last of the spears as she moved. It was like a flowing river, how Charlie managed to shift across the battlefield, her father didn’t train her for nothing, didn’t spend hours teaching her the importance of making the battlefield a dance, (much to his distaste that dancing was the only way to get her interested in proper footwork.) Charlie’s counter blow struck hard as the exterminators soared past her throwing her trident with such deadly accuracy she could pin a flies wings to a wall from a hundred yards, the three prongs rammed straight into the throat of the closest angel and it dropped, losing its momentum as it ground along the dirt, Charlie had already done a graceful cartwheel to retrieve her weapon, in time for the exterminators to soundlessly change tactics, landing and splitting up they intended to surround the princess, to drive spears from all sides, once she was dead they could recover the body and weapons of the fallen. 

Ever alert and aware of her surroundings Charlie saw the angels charging in front of her, heard the footfalls of the one behind. She laughed, a full bellied laugh from someone having far too much fun, all this pain, blood and death. It was in her very being, she was a daughter of hell, and its fires coursed through her veins. Her hair billowed behind her as the ground erupted in magical hellfire, it was enough to cause the angel behind her to falter and step back and in that instance their attack was broken, now only facing one direction Charlie moved gracefully out of reach of one strike, blocked the second and the third ducked low and swept in with a penetrating blow to the heart. Two dead and not a single scratch on her, as she picked up the weapon before the exterminator even had a chance to fall. The angel behind the fire had to fly up high and over the obstacle, deciding to dive for a sweeping attack whilst this devil spawn defended attacks from the other two. 

Charlie only needed one hand for the trident, and thanked her father for all the training regiments, like having to ride a unicycle on a tightrope whilst Lucifer threw axes at Charlie to catch. Using only a single hand on the trident, she lost stability for a moment but swung her free hand round to bat the blade of the spear aiming for her back, driving the exterminator that wielded it off course and tumbling to the ground. Charlie felt her arm bend as the attack against her front caused her guard to slip, a spear slid past the shaft of her trident and gouged against her arm and she hissed in indignation that such a creature could cause her to bleed.

Still it was something, it was a new experience and Charlie was learning more about fighting dirty then she ever could with just her training sessions. All too easy to take a step back, roll away across the now blackened and extinguished ground where her flames once stood, being pursued by the one who had wounded her, hoping to run her down and kill her, Charlie kicked up the scorched and blackened earth as a dark cloud straight into the Angel, its vision obscured it didn’t see the trident coming as it was gutted and pulled apart. The remaining two felt the compulsion, that the cleanse was almost over, they needed to leave and head back to heaven, this creature was killing them too easily, they would have to plan next time. Launching into the air quickly to get away from the apparent ground based demon was a mistake. Her aim was legendary and Charlie skewered the fourth angel with a trident throw. The final exterminator dove to the ground, unable to simply fly away. That laughter was back as Charlie twirled her re-conjured trident in her hands.

“Come on… you can’t leave yet, we were just starting.” Wordlessly the exterminator got to its feet and turned to face the devil’s daughter. A spawn of a fallen angel, it was clear to see and feel. The angel knew it would face its ultimate end here, it did not have the skill required to fight or evade her. But it did not baulk from its task, its death meant the cleanse could continue uninterrupted elsewhere, it had fulfilled its divine purpose and now it would die. It raised its spear and charged, Charlie moved, like a leaf caught on a wind and danced around deflecting killing strike after killing strike, she would toy with attacks back against the angel, half-hearted lunges that it would deflect with less and less precision as it became more and more fatigued. It didn’t take long for the angel to realize it was simply being played with, that Charlie was just toying with it. Drawing out the inevitable, but it wasn’t going to give up, it would fight until the end as it was trained to do so, because to stop… to surrender would be to invite damnation. There was a tug on its holy soul as it could feel the cleanse had ended and even now the angelic host was ascending back through the portals to heaven. It couldn’t leave, it hoped soon that this creature would finally tire of its game and end it. 

Charlie glanced up at the sky as she parried and pinned the angels spear against the ground.

“Looks like it's over, all of you angels are leaving…” It must be the end now, a single thought that its end would come now… but it didn’t happen there was no killing counter blow as Charlie simply pranced back and gave a strange cheery smile.

“That was fun, get better for next time… I’ll be here!” She sounded happy, happy that she had killed almost two squads of exterminators that she was spitting in God's decree that hell had to be cleansed to keep the population in check. The exterminator took a step back before taking flight quickly and without looking back, it expected to be struck down from behind, a clean throw of a trident as Charlie had already proved she was quite proficient in it. It didn’t happen and the lone angel ascended to join its brethren back into the portals that would soon close for another year.

***

“Did you have fun?” Lucifer asked as the great doors to the palace were opened by imps to allow the wayward princess to return home, she was covered head to toe in gore and blood.

“So much fun, dad! Those angels are fun to fight! I can’t wait ‘till next year.” Lucifer rolled his eyes, he expected it of course… now that Charlie had a taste of freedom there would be no going back. He made a mental note to let the Overlords in Pentagram City know that if any misfortune befell Charlie in their sector he would hold them personally responsible and would face his undisputed wrath. 

“One day at a time, you’ll have to learn more if you want to keep your going out privilege, little apple.” Charlie huffed as she rolled her eyes.

“Daaaaaad, it was easy!” Lucifer frowned at his daughter's foolish pride, although a small part of him was rather proud that she exhibited such a trait.

“It was easy this time, it had been a few thousand years since the blood of a fallen angel went out to meet the host, they will be more prepared next time.” Charlie clapped her hands in excitement.

“Excellent! I can’t wait to see what they do!” Lucifer wrinkled his nose.

“Now go wash off, the stench of angelic fluids is making me want to gag.” Charlie gave a wide, toothy grin and skipped quite happily back to her room.

“Youth of today…” Lucifer muttered, shaking his head. After the adrenaline had begun to wane, Charlie had taken to reflecting on the whole situation and the more she thought about it the more she hated the idea that heaven had started to attack her fathers citizen’s and by extension, her citizens. It made her feel angry and despondent, Charlie was far too upbeat for this emotional baggage and so pushed it to the side, only resurfacing on the eve of each extermination where she would dress up, go out and try and take down as many exterminators as possible before returning. With the constant chiding that her father would give her that soon she would be caught out and that heaven’s eye would only be blind for so long to her antics. 

***

Her father had been right, they had adapted and changed in the following years. Now wielding strange arcane crossbows, they fired bolts across the park at Charlie as she slid to cover. The squad that had intercepted her seemed to have been waiting, staying high in the air and raining down bolts against Charlie, The bench she had flipped over was being riddled with the barrage and Charlie frowned. This felt like cheating, why couldn’t they come and dance instead? A blur of movement on her left side and an angel had swung round to shoot her whilst she was pinned, at least she could do something here, launching her trident at the thing, she killed it before its weapon could impact the ground next to the princess. Well at least this was sort of fun as the spindly blonde dove out of cover for the corpse before hauling it up as bolts riddled it’s body and Charlie used a free hand to start hurling bolts of hellfire. Now the two could play that game and the downside to being flying became apparent; there wasn’t much cover in the sky as Charlie returned fire with a laugh. She always knew, just knew deep in her bones that she was going to be on the receiving end of an ‘I told you so’ from her father when the truth came out that she had become woeful unprepared for the inventiveness of the angelic hordes, but that was for future Charlie to deal with, now using the angelic corpse as a shield from the arrows she had a much better time of throwing scorching balls of fire across the sky and into the ranks of the kill squad.

Their tactics changed, swooping down low and pulling spears ready, the princess of hell relished the chance to take part in a melee brawl once more. Twirling her trident in a defensive motion just as she had been taught, she showed all who would watch exactly what it meant to be heir to the throne of hell. Unbeknownst to Charlie, everything was being recorded. A rather new denizen to hell, a creature of cables and screens rather than flesh and blood, and with Vox’s hellish rebirth changing his body it certainly didn’t change his desire or drive, seeing a good opportunity to get some standing with the upper classes, he would record a sample of footage of the princess in a good light, smashing apart the heavenly host and distribute it. Good press for the royals meant good reputation gains for Vox. Of course all of this was done remotely, Vox certainly wouldn’t risk his own existence for something that might not even pan out. 

Charlie continued, striking down and finding less and less time for gloating or joyous grins, they had been pressing attacks against her in more and more coordinated assaults. Fixing her face with a stern stare Charlie solidified her stance and continued to fight against the swooping onslaught. It seems that luck and not skill got Charlie through the worst of it, only one of the exterminators remained. Charlie finally managed that smile then paused, the way this one held itself, its stance and how it gripped around its spear seemed oddly familiar. Charlie tilted her head.

“You?... I remember you.” The memories of similar encounters going back years, there always seemed to be one who Charlie let get away, always one that seemed far too eager to hang around and attempt to strike Charlie down, with some kind of vendetta. The exterminator made no attempt at responding as it lunged and Charlie quickly parried and side stepped to deflect the momentum of the strike.

“You’ve got quicker, oh this will be fun!” Their dance continued for a while, trident versus spear and Charlie had no mind to rush things, it was perfect for every exterminator she waylaid meant another potential sinner might just survive. 

There was a grunting gasp as Charlie managed to slip past the solitary angels guard, grab hard against the spear and claim it, there was a moment… a fleeting pause where the exterminator tried to recall their weapon, hoping to unbalance the infernal princess, but nothing happened. Charlie’s grip remained steadfast and the weapon did not budge, had Charlie been able to see the face it would have been of shocked surprise, the angel didn’t know that those with angelic ancestry could also control their blades. Now thoroughly disarmed a single strike against the chest plate with the shaft of the commandeered spear had it cracking under the force and the angel collapsing to the ground. Gasping through winded lungs it glanced up through its grimy and blood stained helmet at the princess of hell herself looming over. They were to die now and would meet that fate with a grim determination, they had fulfilled all that God had wished of them, if their fate was to die here, so be it. But the strike never fell and Charlie glanced around before her eyes fluttered down to the sprawled exterminator.

“I’ve always wondered what was under that armour... are you like a person? Or some kind of machine? I hear those are about if Uncle Beebe’s to be believed, but look I’ve already cracked the shell.” Charlie threw the spear back behind her and it disappeared as she dismissed it so easily, a heavenly weapon cast aside, desperate and without anything to lose the exterminator tried to bring it back, to summon their faithful weapon back… but nothing happened. Lucifer's’ daughter was on them quick as a flash, legs either side pinning their hips down as her clawed fingers worked their way into the smashed rents in the angel's armour and tore the section of plating away, it didn’t matter how much the creature underneath her was kicking and squirming, trying desperately to get away and to shift Charlie off. Charlie’s ancestry placed her in a far stronger position than the one she had pinned. The princess paused and turned her head to one side, in apparent confusion.

“Wha…?” She reached down to tear the soft under cloth to one side revealing the pale soft white skin below, even after the throes of battle it wasn’t clammy but had this soft and gentle sheen like a field of soft heather, Charlie had imagined in her romanticized fantasies it to be a hard and battle-scarred creature, stitched and sewn together, not this… not this softness, that was desperately trying to cover their exposed chest, so it could die with dignity if nothing else. Well now Charlie just had to know, it was this niggling burning desire for knowledge that had her use both hands to grab at the helmet of the exterminator and just start yanking on the forged plating in an attempt to rip it off, the angel’s neck was pulled this way and that and it let out a surprised yell as it tried to keep Charlie from removing its mask, it filtered out the worst of hells stench and to say of nothing of the sanctified qualities that must have been breached with the destruction of her armour. Yet another fruitless exercise and silvery hair tumbled down and the soft yellow orb of light that made up their single eye stared hatred straight at the infernal creature that now seemed more interested in exploring what she was rather than killing her. Charlie took a step back, mouth feeling rather dry. The helmet dropped from her hands and rolled away, it's halo that had burned so brightly above, spluttered and went cold, looks like it was part of their armour and not not a part of them.

“You’re not what I expected… at all… look at you!” In a rather shocking move Charlie stepped back to fully appreciate the holy warrior sprawled in front of her. Seizing possibly her only opportunity the exterminator tried to get up as quick as possible and take flight, Charlie’s reflexes kicked in and a hand wrapped around the angel's ankle before slamming her to the ground, the reverberating of the slam was punctuated by the crack of ribs. The angel curled up in reaction to the pain, but Charlie was already on them and roughly picking them up.

“Don’t be rude now… I was just having a look.”

“Let go of me!” The angel spat back as she continued to desperately struggle, Charlie couldn’t help but laugh.

“So it does talk! I always thought you lot were mute or something.” Almost not wanting to egg the princess on the creature in Charlie’s grip tightened her lips and didn’t offer up a rebuttal, Charlie frowned.

“You can’t just say only that! Come on… Do you have a name?” Still nothing, and Charlie took a moment to appreciate the exact nature of this creature, thoroughly helpless in her vice-like grip.

“Do you know how much you terrorize this place? Why can’t you just leave us alone?” Charlie didn’t expect an answer but it still felt good to ask, she had been around people like her father for long enough to know that these foot soldiers were only going to be following some order from one of the higher-up angels, that it wasn’t their decision to attack hell every year. 

“Let me go!” The angel cried out again, seemingly unending in her pursuit of freedom and Charlie paused for a moment.

“Why aren’t you afraid I’ll just kill you? Like I did to all your friends. Like you did to my people?” It didn’t respond and the chiming of the great clock tower heralded the ending of the cleanse, even now Charlie could see the grey blobs ascending through the hellish sky and towards the portals that had opened up there.

“Looks like they’re leaving without you… Do they not care?” Charlie pondered aloud, the answer of course not quite so simple. The angel looked in dismay as it felt the portals closing and its connection to the heavens weakening.

“Kill me then.” It finally said and Charlie tutted and shook her head.

“No, I don’t think I will, I haven’t had a chance to talk to an angel before, so you’ll come with me, as long as dad doesn’t get in a mood.” The princess paused as she ran through a rudimentary plan in her head for a few moments longer before finally clicking her tongue and getting to a better standing position, hauling the angel with her, not wanting to loosen her grip for a moment she had to drag the struggling creature, that would occasionally let out grunts of exertion as it tried to get free.

“Where would you even go? The portals are shut.” Charlie reminded the creature, not that she was expecting any different. Passing through the streets and the mountainous piles of the dead Charlie had to pause and take several detours through the city in which time the first of the opportunistic demons and sinners were beginning to poke their heads up, first dibs on the loot and free real estate that marked the end of a cleanse, it was always a turbulent time. This time like a hissing wind was also the whispered hush among the people that Charlie had captured one of the exterminators and already the rumour-mill was abuzz, how? Why? Questions that only had speculation as answers, but one thing was clear. The rather meek appearance of the princess hid something far more dangerous lurking in the royal bloodline, removing her from the lists of demons to target and putting her on a few other kinds of lists instead.

With the palace in sight Charlie let out a satisfied sigh, her legs and arms were beginning to ache from dragging her unwilling guest, the angel's wings flared out in a strange jolt that was akin to panic at the sight of the looming edifice of dark stone and tall windows.

“This is Lucifer’s palace!” It cried out and Charlie stopped before answering.

“You know my dad then?” The Angel went very still.

“You’re the antichrist!?” Charlie scoffed.

“Nah, that’s Satan’s kid and boy does he have anger management issues, this one time we had to go to a dinner party with them and someone accidentally slipped and stained his suit with the food. Guy wouldn’t stop yelling, Mom said he has ‘short-man syndrome’ whatever that means. Anyway how come you didn’t know that? Aren’t all you angels taught about us?” No response and Charlie frowned again, she enjoyed chatting but it was falling a bit flat when it was this one-sided. 

The gates opened with a foreboding groan that Charlie had got used to decades ago but always seemed to screech on rusty hinges and wailed like the souls of the damned, probably an enchantment she had reasoned, her father wouldn’t stand for dilapidation at the very front of his palace, but something that would instantly set nerves on edge? That was Lucifer all over. A shudder ran up the spine of the prisoner as they stared up at the palace, a sense of foreboding and dark power pulsated from this place and a wrongness settled into their guts as they continued to try and get free. It was too late. The front doors opened, at first it seemed to be magically and autonomous, but as the angel was dragged closer they could see two small in stature imps, faces pressed against the ground in a low bow that almost touched their noses to the floor. They didn’t move a single inch, trained and disciplined as one might expect from Lucifer’s household, even with the presence of a struggling exterminator. Stepping through the threshold the large ornate doors were pulled shut and with one final look the angel stared desperately as the sky was closed off away from her and she was hauled in. 

“Master will be informed of your arrival, princess.” The low drawl as the imp moved quickly away, Charlie turned to acknowledge the statement briefly and was distracted enough that the creature managed for the briefest of instances to slip her wrists free of Charlie’s slacking grasp, learning that Charlie was faster than her, she didn’t turn to run but instead threw her weight into body slamming Charlie that staggered the surprised princess and the angel took flight in an instant and swooped down the high ceilings and corridors as she desperately sought a quick escape, a window, anything! Charlie had shouted something out but it was left unheard and soon a distant noise. As feathery wings stretched out and beat so hard against the air it felt like the muscles were tearing. Desperately trying to leave this accursed place. A horrible sense of dread sinking into her bones the angel found herself in front of a huge stained-glass window that pictured the whole Magne family in their infernal glory. Bracing herself for the shattering she rushed towards it. Passing a corridor and out of the corner of her eye, there he stood, a single solitary figure lightly clasping a cane and tapping it against the ground, in a slow and steady rhythm. It was enough of a distraction as she snapped her head round to look for any incoming attack when the figure vanished before, with a resounding crack one of her wings was snapped and the feathery appendage dropped uselessly and she slammed into the ground, impacting the wall just before the window. 

“Good, that would have been a shame if that had broken, it was a gift from Cleopatra, before she decided to live in the second ring.” The imperial tone and how it was spoken so clearly meant it could be only one person, Lucifer. The angel scrambled desperately to defend itself, hopeless and doomed, but exactly what it had been trained to do. Lucifer was pacing round back and forth like a great white shark circling its bleeding prey, he was taking his time, his displeasure that an angel had somehow managed to break into his home was hidden behind a neutral smile but the danger in his eyes was apparent even to the blind. 

“No fear, interesting… they really do brainwash you up there? Don’t they… like insects, droning away. No matter.” The angel tried to shift and something wrenched inside her and it caused a large phlegmy glob of blood to splatter on the floor. Lucifer sneered.

“And now I’m going to need new carpets, the stench of your death will be intolerable.” The game was over, like swatting an insect, Lucifer got no satisfaction from this, there was no pleading, no desperate crying, just a defiant stare as the angel struggled to stand so that it could die on her own two feet. The pounding of footfalls was almost unheard from the rushing in the angels head as that blow against the wall seemed to have caused the forming a heavy concussion. They prayed for a brief instance that the blow would come soon, so death could at least be somewhat dignified. Instead, everything was getting woozy and she toppled just as Lucifer started to summon his sword before a body impacted straight into the side of the exterminator knocking her to one side, the last thing they saw before darkness crept across her vision was Charlie standing and waving her hands around pleading something to Lucifer, who was looking thoroughly unimpressed.

***

Charlie was pacing back and forth, impatient as ever, she had wanted to celebrate this now and was thoroughly disappointed when her captive had lost consciousness. So excited in fact she hadn’t even taken the time to change or wash up, stains or red flecking her clothes and face. Lucky for her Lucifer had permitted Charlie to use the dungeons in the darkest depths of the palace for their new prisoner. She had thought of waiting inside the cell, just to see them wake up, but the smell in there left little to be desired and Charlie had instead made do with wandering up and down the dark stone corridor that made up some of the deepest tunnels underneath the palace, it was a rare honour to be deemed worthy enough to be taken prisoner by Lucifer, and any hapless victim that found themselves here often wished it was death that had claimed them instead of anything that Lucifer could conjure. Charlie’s ears pricked at the softest sound of groaning as her visitor regained consciousness. Grinning, she turned to the obsidian door that didn’t permit light through its entrance and turning the handle, with a metallic groan, pulled the cell door open revealing the pitch black contents. 

Strung up like a piece of meat in a butcher’s shop the angel hung limply from the ceiling, manacled and chains against her wrists and ankles securing her against the floor where dark iron was bolted in metal plates. Her broken wing hung limply and pathetically behind her, untreated and untended, she had been dressed in a simple linen robe to cover her body, it would do nothing for the cold that would bite at her fingers and toes. Charlie conjured a fistful of hellfire to her hand to illuminate the sight and the captive writhed, unable to look away as the unholy fire burnt her eye at the contrast of light.

“Hi…” Charlie stepped in and the door swung shut behind her, possessed by some unknown force. The Angel gritted her jaw and tried to turn her head away, determined to look anywhere but the princess standing before her and bracing herself for whatever tortures hell could conjure. 

“It’s not very nice to ignore someone, especially since you were trying to kill me a few hours ago.” A long pause before finally the angel spat in Charlie’s direction.

“Hellspawn, I won’t fall to your tricks! Just get on with it!” Charlie paused and her brow furrowed. 

“Get on with what?” Convinced this was some sort of twisted game the angel continued to stare off and clamped their mouth shut once more, Charlie waited, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, when it became more and more obvious she wasn’t getting an answer she sighed.

“I’m not going to torture you, if that’s what you mean… I mean I probably should right? How many of our subjects have you killed? Some would say you deserve it.” Charlie looked at how the expression on the angel remained steadfast, she truly did believe that she had done no wrong killing hells denizens. 

“Actually… I just wanted to talk. Learn a little about you.” Without missing a beat the angel spat back.

“I’ll tell you nothing, devil.” 

“You’ve got quite the temper, don’t you?” mused the blonde as she kept her eyes fixed on the Angel’s face. “But I’ve dealt with stubborn people before… just look at my dad… I’m sure we’ll get to know each other really well soon… but I wonder what’s your name?” Another long silence greeted Charlie as she started to head back towards the door, pushing it open and dismissing her light.

“Well… I’m sure I’ll find out soon.” Charlie took a few steps forward into the dimly lit dungeon corridor before tapping a finger to her chin as she paced back and forth, she might need to do some reading up on angels, which would mean talking to her father, a thought that wasn’t the most appealing. She would probably need to give one of her uncles a phone call, Lucifer really wasn’t going to like that.


	2. Velvet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another player joins the party.

Screaming, so much screaming. Always screaming, nails on the chalkboard, ice down the back of someone’s top. Buzzing in the back of your mind that built into pressure so bad that if felt like the idea of cracking your skull on the pavement would relieve the tension and not just smear brains all over the concrete. A bubbling dirty laugh, dark and tar-like rose bile from the back of her throat as she let it out, head snapping forward to look in a mirror. 

A broken mirror, for a broken soul. Much like the surrounding bathroom was in tatters, a cascading storm that spread around during one of her meltdowns. The laugh ended with the pursing of lips and eyes narrowed to inspect the split that resided on the bottom of her mouth, fingers touched it, probing for the memory that was decidedly absent from the dull pain that accompanied her inspection. She liked the colour, red on black was her favourite and the colours that would come out of someone’s insides was magical, like wet confetti that roped around your hands. 

The demonic doll blinked once more as she returned her focus to her face, not her lip and swished her head from side to side, enjoying the blurry lines that would form, clearly what Val had supplied her was still lingering in her veins. The silence was threatening to press in again and with it that awful noise of nothing that made her head hurt, only her eye twitched and Velvet laughed again, pushing the void away and slinking up to stand straight, playing with her hair. She had to make it bushy again. 

“Velv what the FUCK are you laughing about!?” The angry shout that came from next door made her spring up and bounce on her heels, looks like they were up. She giggled, finally no more silence. She turned and left, before those shadows would begin to taunt her again. Valentino was laying bare chest and wincing, his usual glasses were discarded and he was rubbing his temple with one of his blue hands in mild annoyance, clearly having been stirred into consciousness from the laughter. The pimp had crashed out across a sofa after the party from last night, or more specifically the early hours of the morning.

“Hey Val! Since you’re up wanna go get some ice cream?” Velvet both ignored the question and grinned almost manically at the prospect of a frosted treat. Valentino looked more exhausted than usual and let out a breath.

  
“I’m going to fuckin’ kill my dealers, you shoulda crashed out for a week after what you took.” Velvet tilted her head and one of her ponytails brushed against her neck, causing the woman to let out a giggle at the ticklish sensation, she considered him for a moment and then formed a large ‘O’ with her mouth.

“Oh those party candies? Yeah! They made me dance around like mad and then… and then...” She tailed off as her thoughts aligned themselves briefly back to the horrors of the bathroom behind her. 

“... And then you woke up!” She finished beaming, “You wanna get ice cream?” Valentino shifted slightly propping himself up on one set of elbows before kicking at his sleeping partner. Vox’s body was slumped backwards, head tilting past the end of the sofa and displaying nothing by static. Looks like he was out cold and Valentino hissed to himself.

“Lucky fucker.” Blearily he dragged a hand without really looking to his discarded coat that rested on the floor somewhere around and blindly felt for a pocket before pulling out a wad of cash notes, uncaring he tossed them so they scattered in what he assumed was Velvet’s general direction, well if his antennae weren’t completely fucked from the cocktail of drugs that was still in his system. 

“Go get yourself some then.” He said with a huff as he settled back down to try and sleep off the forming hangover that wasn’t helped by the shrillness of the laugh that woke him. Velvet bent down and started to pick up the money, her eyes unfocused for a moment suddenly narrowed as she straightened up, clutching a handful of bills.

“Wait? You’re not coming?!” Valentino didn’t even open his eyes.

“Fuck no… you can do it yourself, you’re a big girl.” Velvet’s eyes flickered to Vox for just a moment.

“But Voxy says he doesn’t like me going out by myself anymore!” Valentino responded by shifting his leg and kicking Vox in the side once more.

“Yeah? And  _ Voxy _ ain’t around to argue, so either go out and get your fuckin' ice cream, or shut up for five goddamn minutes so I can get some fuckin’ sleep.” Velvet paused and gave a final look to Vox just hoping maybe he would wake up and weigh in, but he was out like the proverbial light and Velvet resigned herself to picking up the rest of the cash and shifting towards the exit, trying her best not to step on bottles or slip over the vomit. She really did want that ice cream.

“Guess I’ll see ya later?” She got no response from Val who had rolled over to just face the cushions on the sofa, Velvet’s eye twitched and she clasped a hand to it and shut the door before starting to laugh again. 

When Vox stirred the static began to bleed out to form the regular and groggy face as he sat up straight. He rubbed his back with his metal hands and let out a groan as a few vertebrae popped back into place. Eying up Valentino he let a slow smirk spread over as he tested his legs to try and stand, he wondered if the pimp knew exactly how bad things had got last night, if there were any holes in his memory? Problem with having practically a computer for a head, Vox’s memory was eidetic, he couldn’t forget even if he wanted to. Taking a step forward he managed to kick a bottle over with a clatter and let out a deadpanned sigh, glancing to his side Valentino just grumbled and curled up slightly. Vox reached down to pick up the Overlord's fluffy jacket before the escaping liquid from the bottle could stain it and then draped it over the sleeping moth. Taking paces across the room he opened the bathroom needing to piss before probably getting some very strong coffee. Vox froze before sighing, and stepped over the shattered remains of the toilet that even now was still leaking water all over the floor, the mirror had been smashed too and large pieces of it were unaccounted for… oh no they weren’t, the body slumped in the middle of the floor had several large shards sticking out of it’s back. Vox unzipped and decided to relieve himself in the sink before continuing. Zipping back up he used his foot to push the poor fool over. Face twisted in agony, disembowelled… and dick hanging out. Yup, Velvet’s handiwork Vox thought bitterly. Vox recalled the face of the creature on the floor, one of the guests that had bribed his way inside, took a liking to the childlike antics as Velvet was buzzed off her head, and he recalled them going to the bathroom rather excitably. 

It wasn’t like Velvet to fuck and cut either, if he was good she would add him to her numerous list of ‘special friends’ and if he was bad she would have stormed out and announced it to the world, she didn’t play with her food, or at least not like this. A black widow Velvet was not, far too cheery for that noir look. Turning and leaving he looked around the room and after failing to see Velvet draped anywhere frowned and moved to Valentino.

“Hey Val…” The moth scrunched his face and grumbled.

“Fuck off… if you want ice cream just catch up to Velvet.” he spoke still half asleep.

  
“The fuck?...” Vox straightened his back and looked confused before it clicked. “Oh fuck.” 

***

Velvet was making her way down the street, she knew the route, spending endless hours watching the pavement from the seat in Val’s limo, she made a game of calling out the primary colours of demons' fashion sense as they sped along, even now she couldn’t help herself.

“Green… Red… Black, always black.” She muttered nonsensically to herself since there was no one else to talk to. She was bright, larger than life and dressed to impress and wow. Everyone knew her look and those that knew more, knew to stay the hell away from her. Her eye twitched again and she turned her head to where Vox usually stood and scanned for why he wasn’t there, it took far longer than it should until she remembered he would probably still be asleep and it was just her, her and the silence that followed around her drumming inside Velvet’s skull like a maddening beat. She let out a cackling laugh that attracted the attention of other pedestrians, fortunate for them, far luckier they had any right to be Velvet was distracted by a passing car that had gold hubcaps to make eye contact during her laughing, because that was a mistake. A laugh was only as good as its punchline, and if you weren’t laughing along that means you didn’t get the joke and that just wouldn’t do at all now, would it?

Silencing the void with a laugh and the lack of conversation made Velvet tilt slightly as her walk became a slow wander as she slowly forgot the purpose of her visit to the outside of Pentagram City, only focusing on getting rid of that damn silence that plagued her so, still smiling of course, couldn’t help but smile. Smiling was fun and fun was okay, not fun was bad, very very bad. She started swinging her arms back and forth as she idly moved stopping on occasion to look at someone’s outfit, make a comment about it to no one in particular and then moving on, only when she saw the familiar brightly colour exterior did she remember her whole purpose of being outside. 

“Ice cream!” She squealed and jumped straight into the road and the oncoming traffic swerved and honked as she happily skipped across it.

  
“GET THE FUCK OFF THE ROAD YOU CRAZY BITCH!” One driver shouted, not for her welfare of course but a body shaped imprint could often ruin an engine. This was hell after all, everyone was selfish. The little bell tinkled slightly and Velvet grinned as she stepped straight on up to look with awe and wonder at the ice creams available. Hell freezing over might have been an idiom once, but with the invention of the freezer, ice was pretty commonplace. Her face pressed up against the sneeze guard like an impatient child she stared with wonder at the names and colours, her red eyes poured over the smallest of details, how soft the scoops would be, the number of sprinkles per square inch. The horrible realization that if she had sprinkles, would it be an odd or even number of them? Blinking up she looked at the imp that was rather patiently waiting to take her order. He recognized her immediately, as this was her favourite ice cream place and having the place burnt down wasn’t budgeted for this month. 

Never. Rush. Velvet when picking ice cream.

“Oh so many to choose from what flavour do I WANT!? Does the chocolate taste of brown? It looks brown but tastes of chocolate so does that mean brown is chocolate or chocolate is brown… hmm and sprinkles. I mean I love sprinkles, especially those little glittery ones, I love those the best… what do you want Val?” She turned her head and blinked, she was alone.

“Oh that’s right… Gimme a hellish fudge sundae with extra sprinkles but no more than two teaspoons or one fistful. And the same again for my two friends!” Velvet pulled out the wad of cash and giggled as she made it rain down on the other side, notes fluttered like small insects caught in the wind as they landed rather wetly in the ice cream. The imp knew better than to complain, collected the soggy money and started making three orders, he wouldn’t offer change as Velvet was liable to just throw that into the ice cream too. Handing the first large and precariously stacked ice cream cone velvet gave it a single lick from bottom to top and managed to get ice cream smeared on her chin and in the corners of her mouth before letting out such a contended hum of enjoyment, handing her the other ice cream Velvet turned to hand it over to Vox first, Vox was her favourite. Of course, he wasn't there. She blinked and her eye twitched again, putting the cone she held it trapped in the crook of her arm as she took the third ice cream.

The imp did not have the courage or stupidity to make a comment that the puffy sleeves of her dress were now coated in ice cream and outside they would melt quicker than she could walk back to the studio with. He was too busy burying his head under the counter as Velvet’s laughter subsided. She moved to the door and looking at her occupied hands, flicked her foot up and flipped open the door with it, the tinkle of the bell made her laugh again and she stepped back out into the hot hellish air licking her ice cream as she went. They would be so happy, Vox and Val, when she returned with ice cream in tow, and then probably she would make them feel guilty about her having to carry it all the way back by herself. Well maybe if her mind stayed focused long enough to plan that far ahead anyway. A shout, a yell and the sound of a gun firing had Velvet cock her head to one side and turn, looks like a sinner had some beef with another and they were currently going at each other. The doll-demon grinned with ice cream smeared face, Vox loved to watch a good fight at someone else’s expense, Velvet could feel her phone in a pocket pressed up against her, she needed to get it to film the spectacle, she bobbed up and down, bending her knees in annoyance as she didn’t have a hand free, carefully she put Valentino’s ice cream in the crook of her other arm, managing to smear that on her dress too, before using tiny movements with her one free hand and only trying to move her forearm, reached fingers into her pocket and retrieved the high-end appliance.

Top of the line, prototype model, a gift from Vox. That now had ice cream fingerprints on the screen as she flicked to unlock it. Turning to video mode she made to turn and try to follow the fight that had now turned into a full on brawl as other demons were joining in on the action, no doubt craving some desire to inflict pain. A creature whose deer skull was detached and floating on fire from its body had joined in, you couldn’t be sure how it happened but soon after an explosion rocked the streets and body pieces cascaded everywhere, the flaming creature got to his feet and got out of there like his pants were on fire, they were. Clearly not wanting to stick around from the property owners to show up. However, it was with the sudden change in wind pressure that knocked and buffeted Velvet, and with a gasp her cone dislodged from her hands, the two ice creams wedged in her arms fell fully into her armpits and she starred in mute horror as her coloured sprinkles sundae hit the ground with a wet splat. 

Everything went still, silent even… apart from the rushing inside her head followed with an eye twitch that lashed across the left side of her face, the perpetrator was gone, but there were plenty of others coming out of clubs and shops to see what the commotion was about, and if they could somehow benefit from it, as was hell’s way. The doll-demon’s voice was silent, a gasp that was barely a rasping cackle failed to rise to the occasion as she gasped for a breath that she didn’t even need to take. Just the pounding, the pressure and the pain in her head and it was their fault, all of their fault. For not laughing, for simply being there, for making her drop her presents to Voxy and Val. Hands twisted round to her back as Velvet drew a pair of wickedly sharp, curved blades, each shaped like a jagged toothed grin.

The last laugh was always hers. 

***

It had been several days since the massacre that Velvet had perpetrated and Valentino was in a fouler mood than normal as he paced about.

“I told you, we shouldn’t let her go out on her own. She's…” Vox was trying to placate him, as normal he was the cool head to their partnership.

“A fuckin’ psycho!” Valentino cut across and Vox sighed and got up to try and get the tall moth to simply stop moving around, Valentino shook his hand off easily enough as he huffed.

“Val… we’re in hell, of course she’s going to have issues.” Valentino stood up straight and let out a laugh.

“No no no, I got issues, you’ve got issues!  _ Her?  _ She’s the definition of insane that someone thought was a bit fuckin’ much and had to tone it fuckin’ down! She’s costin’ me money Vox, she can’t stay here!” Vox folded his arms.

“I said that I would cover the costs of that Val! C’mon.” 

“No, it's more about money, she fucking reduced half the staff in that club into meat cubes and then spent fucking two hours building a fucking castle out of them. What am I supposed to do about that, it's an attack on me!? I can’t let this shit slide.” Vox sighed.

“You know how she gets when she’s upset, I said not to go outside and she was more than happy to agree, but then you told her to get ice cream.” Valentino turned to him and stood as tall as he could, looming over the TV demon.

“Don’t you dare try and spin this on me! That bitch, just had to shut up for five fuckin’ minutes so I could get some rest, but she doesn’t  _ EVER  _ shut up!” 

“She’s excitable…” Vox tried, but these were arguments he had used before, and just like before proved ineffective at getting Valentino to change his mind.

  
“Yeah? And so is your fucking pet, but you don’t see it running up and down the streets of hell dicing up a person who looks at you whilst you’re fucking laughing! She’s a fucking menace to my business, she has  _ got  _ to go.” Vox looked at Valentino for a long few moments and realized that this particular battle wasn’t one he was ever going to win whilst Valentino was so worked up.

“When are you going to tell her?” He spoke in a defeated tone. Valentino puffed up.

“Me? Oh fuck no, you’re the one who treats her like a fucking kid… you can fucking do it, and I want her gone by the end of the day or I'm getting security to throw her out. Got it?” Vox let out a tone of annoyance and nodded once before turning to leave. Valentino called after him.

“Once that bitch is gone, we can finally enjoy some fucking quiet again, I’ll take you out for dinner, my treat tonight.” Vox didn’t respond, it certainly didn’t feel like a treat when he had to be the bearer of bad news that wasn’t even his. Stepping across the penthouse and exiting the top floor of Valentino’s studio. He could already hear Velvet’s own brand of off-key singing that echoed through the halls regardless of how much soundproofing Valentino seemed to invest in, Velvet was never quiet, not for a single moment whilst she was awake, humming, talking or just laughing endlessly. The TV Overlord stopped momentarily, tapping his foot as he looked at a door covered in strange symbols and stickers, images from Velvets favourite bands, or products, nothing cheery but still one hundred percent  _ Velvet.  _ He knocked once and waited, there was a crash and tumble, the sound of furniture either falling over or being thrown across the room before there was a slam that sounded like a body hitting the other side of the door. Velvet opened the door with such vigor and force that the hinges looked like they might come apart and her eyes looked half in and out of focus as she grinned like a lunatic when she recognized Vox as her interruption. 

“Voxy!” She beamed at him and stepped back allowing the Overlord into her den, it was a strange mix of darks and bright colours, much like Velvets unpredictable mood swings you could place a hand over your eye and the room would seem at home in a gothic mansion, dark shapes and twisted furniture, and with the other eye was a pink peppy social media influencer. As Vox made a quick glance around it turns out that it was just a small side table had been knocked over, makeup scattered onto the carpet that Velvet was now bending down to pick up hastily looking rather embarrassed and keeping offering furtive glances backwards at Vox. 

“Just got a little carried away! Didn’t see it, clumsy me. You want a drink or something?” Vox frowned and sighed.

“I’m not here for that Velvet, would you pay attention please?” Velvet’s eyes went wide and she sprang up.

“ARE YOU GOING TO INVITE ME OUT FOR ICE CREAM?” She jumped in the air with excitement, and clapped. “This will be so much fun! With you there I won’t spill any this time and then Val can stop being such a grump around me, right? That’s why you’re here right?”

“That’s not why I’m here, listen Velv-” But the overly excited demon had already started on the next thing as her brain leapt from one idea to another at inhuman speeds.

“Oh, sure that’s right Val’s gonna want something much better as a “I’m sorry those people got cut up! What if we make him like a card or something? I know some awesome artists who post all their stuff on voxtagram… Or maybe we could throw a party and I’ll be on my like… on my very, very best behaviour! Come on Voxy, can we have a party? Pretty, pretty please?” Vox had folded his arms and struggled to get a word in edgewise.

“Would you just let me finish!” Velvet fell quiet and her over enthusiastic movements slowed and she just stared at him, waiting.

“Thank you… Listen Velvet, I’ve been talking to Val and he, well he just doesn’t think you can stay with us in the tower.” Velvet blinked a few times and furrowed her brow.

“Yeah… but you told him we’re like family right? I know I messed up but I’m really sorry! I said it like a bunch and everything… I know Val didn’t want to see me, but I know he heard me say it through his office door!” There was a long pause, and Velvet’s eyes went wide.

“You… you did tell him, right? That I was still staying here?” Vox shook his head.

“Val thinks it's best if-” But Velvet had already started to inflate as she sucked in a huge lungful of air. 

“But family sticks together! Us three… we’re the triple V’s!” As much of a heartless bastard as he was, Vox still felt a weight pressing down on his stomach, watching Velvet getting more and more worked up, how her face would flicker from one expression to the next as she tried hard to understand how in hell this was all happening right now.

“H-He’s kicking me out, because I spilt his ice cream!? What the fuck Vox?” 

“It’s not that, you butchered his workers, made that club a dead zone, no one wants to go there since you tore up the place. So he wants you out of his business for a while.” Velvet looked around her room, out of impulse looking for something to stab someone with, before she snapped back to reality and towards Vox.

“A-And what do you want? C’mon Voxy, you’ve always had my back.” Sharp claws ran down the outside of Vox’s screen as he sighed.

“I wished things were different, but there’s not a lot I can do, you know how Val gets, when he wants something done, that’s all there is to it.” Velvet puffed up.

“Don’t forget, I’m an Overlord too! Who got everyone to use your fucking app, or who got all of Val’s clubs on the top list to every rich fucker down here, I did!”

“Yes and we joined forces to solidify our hold, but those times are over, Val’s known everywhere now and I’m just as widespread.” Velvet’s eyes went wide.

  
“What… so you don’t  _ need _ me anymore, is that it?!” A noise came from the doorway as it sawn open and Valentino walked in.

“No, now get your fucking shit outta my building. Vox your bleedin’ fuckin’ heart is taking too long.” Vox grumbled.

“I was trying to explain.” Velvet was looking frantically between the two and a nervous, panicked giggle came bubbling up.

“C’mon guys, haha... don’t do this.” 

“Will you stop that endless fuckin’ LAUGHIN’!” Velvet’s head twitched and her neck snapped to one side, covering both hands over her mouth she hunched over as a manic and uncontrollable laugh filled the room and bounced off the walls and the two other Overlord’s standing there. Inside her head there was a screeching silent static that had begun to expand and fluctuate, razor blades dragged over glass behind her eyes and the last thing Velvet could recall was conjuring a knife and everything going hazy and black. 

***

Velvet woke with a gasp, the nightmare already fading like mist in the midday sun, sitting up she blinked, disorientated and groggy. Looking around, this wasn’t her room… or even in a building, Velvet was in an alleyway, it was dimly lit and disgustingly filthy. One hand pressed against the wall she started to stand and let out a long groan as her limbs ached, this in turn caused her to wince and with her other hand gently touched at the large purple welt that had been marked across her face, had someone hit her? Without having any more time to think the sound of an engine revving and tyres squealing had her glance to the road off to the side of the alley and she had just enough time to see what she thought might have been a familiar limo driving off like a bat out of hell. Taking a few steps away from the wall and holding her side that was apparently also badly bruised she glanced at the floor to spot the tattered remains of something familiar, stooping low she picked up the shreds of one of her many posters that used to litter the walls of her place, in fact… everything of hers was here and all of it had been ruined; torn, smashed or broken in some way. 

“W-We… we were supposed to be f-family.” A tiny bubble formed at the back of her throat and she hiccuped messily before starting to sloppily laugh, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes, Velvet clasped both hands over the front of her mouth to try and get the noise to stop, as she screwed her eyes shut tight and hoped that she was just dreaming. When it didn’t dissipate, when reality remained as bleak and horrible as it was, she took a long look around before finally fishing out her phone and bank cards, oddly enough it seemed to be the only thing that hadn’t been damaged and seemed to have been placed rather carefully on top of a pile of her ruined clothes. She quickly unlocked it and tried to dial Val, the line went dead, screwing her face in an angry stare. She tried Vox, same again. They had both blocked her. 

“I’m not garbage… they c-can’t just throw me out…” Velvet looked around and let out a quiet noise. “I’m not…” The thunderous drums of the void began beating inside her skull, that horrible lingering silence that threatened to overthrow her sanity. Half concentrating her fingers swiped across the screen of her phone, before she raised it up into and turned her head away to hide the bruise, one background filter later.

“Hey all my little Velveteers. Gettin’ jelly none of y’all are getting those invites to Val’s parties? Well I got news for you, he’s old news! There’s only so many shades or red before it gets bleugh. So I’m holding an open audition! Throw the wildest, funniest and downright exciting parties and maybe I’ll come and we can be best friends! See you soon! *myah*.” After blowing a kiss to the camera she turned off her phone and Velvet’s arm went limply to her side. She could feel her smile fading and quickly pinched her injured side, tears sparkling in the corners of her eyes she skipped out of the alley, giggling to no one but herself. If she didn’t think, she was fine… just don’t think. Velvet concentrated on nothing but the most immediate problems, her side and face were aching and hurting, this was an easy fix. It took no time at all until she had found herself a vending machine and leaning up against the wall slowly pushing the needle into her thigh and letting the ketamine flood her system. With it pumping in her veins with each twisted heartbeat, Velvet turned with a grin to look at the explosion of notifications, sinners all clamouring to get her attention, promises of loud music, bursting venues and endless souls. 

“I’m gonna make so many new friends, who needs fam-... well who needs  _ them _ !” 


	3. Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another pair to add to the story.

How it started? Gosh now that was a hard question to answer, a complicated one too but even something that seems so completely random, so unbelievable and unconnected managed to link two souls together in a bind that would be considered truly rare in hell… friendship.

Anthony was sent to hell, not unsurprising considering. Dusting himself off standing to his considerable height, he glanced around to see a city full of sin, vice and violence.

“Finally, time for a fuckin’ party!” First soul drinking from a bottle he knocked out to steal his hooch and Angel Dust had never had more fun, freedom was addictive. He could dress how he wanted, drink, snort and take what he wanted, get fucked by who he wanted. And the best thing of all? No-one batted an eye, or whatever the fuck they had instead of eyes. It was everything he had wanted and this was in hell! The funnest place in the universe.

Problem was, nothing was free. You couldn’t steal everything and still be let into the best places to party, so Angel started working, dancing and stripping, what he loved to do to earn that cash to help him enjoy himself and things were going great.

“Hey hot stuff, your set’s up next.” Angel put down the large powdered puff and used one of his other arms to reach for the mascara, and glanced towards the manager who’s reflection was in the mirror he was using to apply makeup. They were in the dressing room just behind the main stage, this was one of Angel’s favourite spots to freelance, it paid well and both the drinks were cheap and the eye-candy plentiful.

“Thanks babes, DJ get my playlist?” The large and burly shark-man nodded.

“All loaded up, you do well, you know the tips are all yours.” Angel laughed and stuck his tongue out.

“Babes, y’know I’m hungry for more than the tips.” A roll of the eyes but a grin came nonetheless.

“Hurry up now, you got two songs before you’re up.” Angel waved a dismissive hand and continued applying his mascara, a moment or two later a red skinned succubus came strutting in, wearing high heels, a dark black thong and just a couple of heart shaped stickers over her nipples. She moved over to get a long and fluffy dressing gown before sitting down next to Angel and started peeling the stickers off.

“Fucking stickers, always leaving that shit behind.” She fumed to herself and licked a thumb before rubbing at the sticky residue that covered a nipple.

“Wouldn’t know, never had a problem.” Angel's two lower arms fluffed out his busty chest and earned a growl.

“Fuck your fluff.” Angel cackled.

“Plenty have bitch, crowd alright tonight?” With both stickers off the succubus turned to Angel and folded her robe together and tied it shut.

“Yeah Angel, got a big wig here tonight too.” Angel raised an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah? Who’s the rich mark?”

“Valentino, heard he’s scouting.” Angel frowned.

“Then why the fuck didn’t saul mention anythin’?” Angel gestured with his thumb to the door the manager had left by.

“Who fucking knows, probably didn’t want you to get it in your head that you wanna work for Valentino.” Angel let out a dreamy sigh and stared at his reflection in the mirror.

“Fuckin’ imagine that… gettin’ signed on with Val… y’know I heard, he always has the best shit, loudest gigs… fuck.” The other demon shrugged.

“Maybe, heard he’s a fucking ass to work for though.” Angel snorted.

“Probably just jealous bitches… I mean, can you imagine the scratch you can get from a gig like that? Heard he only lets you work in his places… can make people a star!”

“There you go again… you know what’s underneath the star?”

“What?”

“A pile of bodies that failed to get there.”

“Fuck it, I know I’m a star and I’m gunna prove it.” The red demon opened her mouth but with the loud music that played out and the announcement started.

“He's straight from heaven to tempt you all with delights… IT’S ANGEL DUST!” Angel got up and made everything perfect before strutting off to his cue. Stepping out on the stage, the pole a few feet away and directly opposite there he was, Valentino himself. The larger than life overlord had both another succubus and some kind of cat demon tucked up by his arms and Angel had to hide a smirk, he could easily replace one of those bitches. He strutted and danced like he owned the joint, confident and proud of his skills, even kicking away a patron who was getting a little too excited, Angel had a fiery spirit and midway through a spin and dance he caught Valentino looking directly at him and leaning forward in his seat.

That contract was going to be in the bag, at least it would have been if it wasn’t for the huge explosion that rocked the side of the building and a chunk of rubble swooped straight in and knock Angel clean of the stage and smashing across the room before slamming into the bar, in the most undignified way possible as limbs splayed every which direction and bottles shattered everywhere, coating him in booze, A deep red gash was leaking down Angel’s face and onto his fur as he wobbled around trying to stand, there was screaming and gunfire and the inside of his head sounded like a ringing bell.

Managing to haul himself up, he looked in dismay as Valentino had disappeared, clearly gone as soon as whatever the fuck had happened. Angry and frustrated that he just blew his short in getting in the big leagues he glanced around to watch what looked like a bunch of stubby little egg people firing guns at a cyclops launching bombs around the club and coating the interiors with egg mess.

“YA FUCKIN’ BITCH!” He roared standing up still wearing his thigh high boots and miniskirt and conjured out his tommy-gun, unleashing a withering hail of bullets from behind the bar as anyone not involved in the fight scurried for cover faster than you could blink. The pale cyclops cartwheeled and flipped up a table to take cover from this new attack and shouted over the din.

“KEEP YOUR PANTIES OUTTA THIS SLUT!” A lit fuse and a small sparking bomb was hurled through the air straight at Angel. Well Angel didn’t grow up on the streets of New York without learning how to play ball, Swinging his gun back he grabbed it by the barrel and swung hard knocking the bomb straight back at the bomber, much to the ‘oohs’ and 'aahs’ of the egg bois. The Cyclops eye went wide-eyed and she took a harsh dive to the side before it exploded and destroyed her cover.

“Fuck!” She fumbled hard against the floor and something tumbled from her person, it scattered to the centre of the room. She glanced at it with one panicked moment before realising that she couldn’t stay here and threw something on the ground and a huge cloud of glittery purple smoke filled the room in an instant, guns fired through the smoke but by the time it cleared, there was no sign of the assailant but a tiny splattering of blood. With the gunfight over, souls and demons started emerging from cover and Angel hopped the counter and moved to the centre of the room whilst the egg bois milled around looking for something and picking up the shards of their numbered comrades.

“The fuck is this?” Angel bent down and picked up a small lockbox, this was the thing that the woman had? He turned it over in his hands, it looked like it had a simple lock and the container itself was only minorly dented.

“Now hand that over, doesn’t anyone respect another man’s property these days?” Angel turned to the imperious and pompous tone as a large snake had managed to slither through the hole in the wall, the walking, talking egg bois seemed to answer to him and were now all looking at Angel, he glanced back down and wondered exactly how much this was worth if they were willing to trash a club for its return.

“Oh yeah sure no problem? There like a finders fee or sumthin’?” He offered the box, and the snake swiped down to take it before stowing it safely by his side.

“What? Monetary compensation? Of course not, but surely the knowledge of helping he who will soon be the most powerful Overlord in hell… Sir Pentious will be reward enough!” Angel stared blankly.

“Who?” The snake's frills flared.

“ME YOU DOCK SIDE TROLLOP! I’ll be the most powerful Overlord in hell!” Angel’s face turned to a sultry smile as he swayed his hips a little and moved right up close to Pentious.

“And I bet it gets lonely, being all at the top… fancy some company tonight?” He ran several hands up and down the snake as fingertips trailed delicate patterns over his scales, Pentious seemed momentarily flustered and a few of the eggs were blushing as he shook off Angel’s hands.

“Not from the likes of you, tramp!” Angel turned to feign indignation as his hand reached across to stuff the small box straight back down into his fluff after lifting it from the snake.

“Ah, shoot… oh well! Can’t blame a guy for trying.” Angel snapped his fingers and turned again showing his blank form and hands before turning to start to walk away from this trainwreck with a smile spreading across his sharp mouth. Maybe it wasn’t such a bust after all. He casually waltzed away and got to the door before there was a sudden yell as Sir Pentious had checked his side and then Angel bolted straight out and into the crowds, disappearing from sight.

It was easy enough to blend in with the crowds, even with what he was dressed in, hell was amazing for that, wear what you want no one bats an eye, some of these weirdo’s didn’t even have skin so no one cared. As much as he hated to lower his profile, crouching slightly kept him at head height with the rest and after several minutes he popped back up, sure he had lost them. If that snake even had figured out Angel took it… by the dopey attitude of his staff had Angel figuring that smarts wasn’t high on their list. He shrugged and laughed at the stupid look at that snakes face and wiped a tear from his eye.

“Fuckin’ idiot.” it was completely by chance that he heard a pained gasp now that his head was cleared of the crowd he turned to pinpoint it, it sounded strangely familiar and he ducked out to get in the alley.

“Fuckin’ shrapnel.” Angel’s smirk could have been seen from orbit as he casually rested up against a dumpster that the cyclops had hidden behind as she tried to wrap her thigh in a hastily makeshift bandage as it bled profusely. Clearly she wasn’t able to run anymore.

“Havin’ a good time down there?” He called with a snide grin. The woman let out a surprised yell, tried to roll to the side and stand, her leg wobbled too much and she fell down onto her knee as she grabbed at a bomb from behind her and lit the fuse in an instant.

“Woah now bitch, no need for that shit… If I wanted to I woulda just shot ya when I had the jump.” The woman narrowed her huge red eye but quickly used her fingers to put out the fuse.

“The fuck do you want? You been followin’ me?” Angel shrugged.

“Please, you think I got nothin’ better to do than follow failed thieves around?” The scarlet rose in the woman’s cheeks.

“Failed? Fuck you, if it wasn’t for your skanky ass I woulda got rid of those fuckin’ eggs and then dashed.” Angel snorted.

“Skank? The only thing skanky here is your tattoo choices, you let a retard ink ya?” The bomber went to stand as she inhaled for a retort but her eye bugled and she collapsed down, her leg giving out pathetically.

“Fuck!” She exclaimed as Angel raised an eyebrow.

“Looks like ya losin’ a lot of sauce there.” The woman shuffled back to press her back against the wall as she started trying to tie up the bandage.

“Didn’t realise they gave observant medals to just anybody.” Her hands slipped, now coated in red and she swore to herself again as she panted, out of breath and rested her head back and stared into the sky. She jolted at the touch of another as Angel had lowered down and using four sets of hands applied pressure and redressed the wound.

“The fuck you doing?” She panted. Angel shrugged as he made the fabric tighter around her thigh.

“Can’t mock ya if ya bleed out on me… bitch.” The corners of her mouth twitched into a smile.

“Am I gunna have to test for HPV now since you got your slut hands all over me?” Angel laughed.

“Fuck you, I’m more worried about getting pink eye, how fucking red is your eye? You into some nasty shit?” She lifted her hand and flipped him off as he straightened up and stood up.

“Angel.”

“Cherri.” Angel moved to the other wall and sat down.

“So… wanna explain how you ruined my set and cost me the best job I could have ever got?” Cherri half shrugged.

“Wrong place, wrong time?” Angel laughed.

“Story of my fuckin’ life. What was so valuable that you had to go startin’ a fight with that prick of a snake?” Cherri cocked her head to one side and sighed.

“Oh the fuckin’ edgelord turned up then? I fuckin’ baited him and I didn’t even get to see it, shit… well it doesn’t matter now. Fuck.” Angel checked across from them towards the street, they were still unnoticed and avoided.

“So like… was it worth much?” Cherri shrugged.

“Nah, but that prick wanted to keep it secret, so y'know.” Angel fished inside his bust before pulling out the small box, Cherri went wide eyed and cackled.

“How the fuck did you manage that?” Angel laughed and slighted his hair back.

“Guy’s so far up his own ass that it was an easy distract ‘n’ switch.” Cherri wasn’t quite ready to move again but held out her hand.

“Well c’mon, hand it over.” Angel tutted.

“Oh nah, you think I’m letting you keep this? It’s mine.” Cherri frowned.

“I was the one who broke into his fuckin’ base, you have any idea how many weirdo eggs that guy has guardin’ his place?” Angel gave her a deadpan look.

“Yeah.. and you cost me a job and I probably won't be able to go back and work there again… AND you cost me my shot at being a fuckin’ star!” Cherri rolled her eye.

“And you coulda just stayed out of it! Wasn’t your fight!” Angel shrugged.

“Coulda left ya to bleed out here too, or fucking capped ya as soon as I saw ya, and sold it by myself anyway.” Cherri paused and then folded her arms and looked cross.

“Can’t sell it, it ain’t worth shit anyway.” Angel looked down at the box in his hand and then back at Cherri.

“Then why the fuck did’ya take it?” Cherri gestered across again.

“Hand it over, and I’ll show ya then.” Angel considered it and then shifted up and along until he was sat next to Cherri, by her good side so he didn’t sit in her fresh blood patch as he handed it over. Cherri reached around and pulled a small kit of tools and set about unlocking the small box. Angel watched with mid interest.

“Thief, huh? Alive or dead?” Cherri had her tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth as she concentrated.

“When I was alive, y’know… had to make a living somehow. What ‘bout you? Dancer?” Angel let out a dry laugh.

“I’m italian… you think they would have let their son go dancin? Fuck no… but I know how to dress a bullet wound.” Cherri paused.

“Army?” Angel laughed.

“Mafia.” there was a sigh.

“Thank fuck for that.” Angel raised an eyebrow and Cherri caught his gaze. “What? I was just starting to warm up to ya.”

“Not a fan of the army then… what? you one of them shitty countries that gets invaded and shit all the time?” Cherri let out a dry laugh.

“Nah, fuck that. Dad was in the military.” Angel snorted and covered his mouth with his hands.

“Oh my god! You fuckin’ poser. Sticking it to daddy in hell, eh? Can’t wait to see what Daddy issues you fuckin’ have.”

“Fuck you, and you’re not!? fucking whoring out as soon as you could!” Angel shrugged.

“When ya good at something, why the fuck not.” A tiny click interrupted their conversation and Cherri put the set of tools away before sliding open the box with a grin.

“Fucking eh… holy shit this is better than I fucking thought.” Angel peered across and looked down at the contents of the box. Inside the box was a single music CD, its cover was a very odd picture of Sir Pentious wearing a tracksuit hoodie and with a cap on sideways as he had his arms folded and looking sideways.

“Snake-Dogg’s rap classics?” Angel repeated the title and then stared at Cherri who was starting to burst into a fit of giggles, Angel managed to sit back down before he broke too.

“Holy fuck!? That turd thought he was gunna be a music legend?” Cherri was crying with laughter as she nodded.

“Didn’t even sell a single goddamn copy!” She howled and Angel had to clutch at his sides.

“Hahaha, we have to fuckin’ listen to this! It’s gunna be so fuckin’ bad!” Cherri nodded and with shaking hands picked up the CD and tucked it away, it took both of them a long time to calm down.

“Fuuuuck, that hurt my ribs. We can listen to it at a place I hang out… C’mon I’ll show ya.” Cherri shimmied up the wall and gingerly placed weight on her leg and frowning. Angel got up and looked her up and down, even for being a pale woman she seemed even more drained standing.

“This just a fuckin’ trick to get me to help ya walk ain’t it?” Cherri didn’t skip a beat.

“Fuck, ya caught me. Sorry, didn’t think they hired hoe’s for their brains.” Angel shook his head but linked an arm with Cherri’s.

“Well which way bitch? Fuck if im letting you leave without at least lettin’ me listen to that trainwreck once.” Cherri gave him a smile and then started to move back towards the street, linking arms with Angel to stop her hobbling.

***

Angel blinked, and strained his neck to look up the building. It looked like someone had thrown different buildings from different timelines all together and squashed it into a building sandwich and then rammed a boat into its side.

“This your place?” He asked incredulously. Cherri nodded and kept moving towards the large, dark building.

“Bull-shit, no way you could afford a place like this!” Cherri shrugged.

“Who said I was paying.” getting to the front door Cherri shunted at it and the door scrapped open, wonky and on unbalanced hinges. Inside it looked like an abandoned foyer, trash and refuse were piled against the side of the walls and dust was everywhere. Angel took one look at it and grinned.

“And you gave me shit! You’re a fucking hobo.” Cherri shrugged at him.

“Cheaper than rent.” Angel looked around whilst Cherri moved forward. This place must have been grand at one point, the stained marks on the wall indicating where hundreds of paintings once hung and the wallpaper and carpets that were probably once rich and full, were now nothing more than peeling and faded. Cherri opened up a set of double doors that led into a grand dining room, the huge tables had been scrapped and pushed to one side and in its palace there was a selection of ratty looking furniture, a sofa, desk and small bed. Cherri flopped down on the sofa and reached across to start rummaging through a bag, there was a small collection of various backpacks or holdalls scattered around, some open and the contents half emptied, clothes… toiletries and other bits that Angel didn’t bother looking at.

“So you really do live here then?” Cherri paused her search and looked up.

“Yeah? That a fuckin’ problem?” She spoke defensively and Angel shrugged.

“Naah, but a place like this… why isn’t it swarming with people?” Cherri shrugged.

“Stay out cos it belongs to Lucifer.” Angel’s eyes went wide for a moment.

“Fuckin’ Apple Daddy? Jesus Cherri you know how to pick ‘em.” Cherri shrugged.

“This place has been abandoned since before I got down here. He’s fucking royality they’re all the same anyway, they won’t knock it down and they won’t use it… fucking rich pricks will just build a better hotel.”

“So it used to be a hotel?” Cherri shrugged.

“Think so… I’ve had a look around and it's just a bunch of bedrooms and shit.” Angel narrowed his eyes and asked the obvious question.

“So why the fuck are you sleeping here and not in one of them?”

“There’s someone else on the top floor, a real fuckin’ freak… I don’t go near ‘em… never seen them but they get a visitor from time to time and they tell me to stay the fuck away, and since he’s livin’ here, he ain’t gunna have anythin’ worth takin’ so… what’s the point right?” Angel looked confused at the ceiling.

“Wonder who it is…” Cherri shrugged.

“Don’t worry about it… aha! Here it is.” She pulled out her CD player and plugged in a set of earphones and offered one to Angel and shuffled across so he could sit down on the sofa. It was less than a minute in before both of them were in hysterics at the ‘music’ they listened to.

“Who the fuck said yes to publishin’ this shit?” Angel had to wipe his eyes free from tears as he unplugged the earphone and handed it back to Cherri, She roughly tossed it back in the bag by her feet and slumped against the couch.

“Fuck knows… but I reckon they probably don’t have a job anymore… I can’t wait to use this when I next run into Edgelord.” Angel laughed.

“You, always stirring up trouble?” Cherri grinned.

“Gotta keep myself busy.” There was a pause. “If ya wanna hang out or shit, I’d be down for that, if ya want.” Angel shrugged.

“Sure, think you still owe me for fuckin’ up my gig.” Cherri grinned.

“Well the first round’s on me then, once my leg’s better.”

***

With Angel’s career prospects of being an adult entertainer well and truly in the shitter, he returned to his back up job and had a surprising revelation. Mob work in hell was just as popular than on the surface, Henrion had by all accounts, mellowed the fuck out. He would still kneecap someone for getting a payment late and was brutal to anyone he thought was skimping a cut, but as for Angel? Well their relationship had never been better. It seems dying had opened his eyes, or the fact that in hell anyone does anything to anybody so having a son that likes to go around in dresses and has sex with other men was small fry, just look at the cannibal colony. One big, happy, dysfunctional… dead family. Angel fitted the glove well enough, he would work, gunman… driver, whatever or go on hit jobs with his brother and at the end of the day get a large cut of the take for being part of the family, then the parties would start, drug fueled and boozy binges that would take both him and Cherri a good solid couple of days lounging around on the sofa and feeling sorry for themselves to recover from.

That abandoned building was a blessing in disguise, truly. It was so quiet so when Angel just had enough, it became his safe space and after several months the thought of not chatting shit with Cherri to wile away the hours seemed like an alien concept. Angel had on occasion heard someone else enter the hotel, but whoever they were, they never lingered always heading straight for the stairwell and to whomever was squatting in the upper levels. Angel hadn’t seen them and Cherri had been right, they kept to themselves, you couldn’t even hear noise and even when the two of them got into karaoke, no one ever ran screaming down the stairs for them to shut up that ungodly noise.

“You sound like a sack of drownin’ cats.” Angel had said to Cherri, I mean he just got sworn at and she carried on anyway. Angel was not good with words, and he wasn’t as stupid as people often thought, but him trying to be tactful about anything just wasn’t in his vocabulary. It wasn’t hard to see when he spent as much time with Cherri as he did, the occasional glances, the moment when she ran out of energy and there was that sad look. He had wondered if she had been very lonely before him, and yet still whatever it was wasn’t enough. How the fuck he was going to ever bring that up in conversation was simply beyond him so he made no attempt to royal stick his many feet into it. His casual hookups on his nights out ended up with him waking up in all sorts of odd places but always satisfied, well for a while.

***

“Hey, Sugar-tits, ya home?” Angel called out as he managed to shunt the door open and slip in before shutting it again. He had a bag clutched under one of his pairs of arms and he listened, hearing nothing continued on regardless. He was cool to just chill out on the sofa for a bit and wait for Cherri to get back from whatever she was doing. Entering the dining hall he paused and saw the cyclops hunched over a desk, she seemed to be putting together a detonator, a small soldering set by her side as she bent over and worked on the circuitry, a look of concentration on her face, and more importantly two headphones across her ears, even from here Angel could here the thrash going off and he rolled his eyes and moved closer. Sweeping around the edge of the room he walked up directly behind her before placing both hands on either shoulder and speaking suddenly at the same time.

“Whatcha doin’?” Cherri jumped out of her skin and span round with a look of panicked alarm before she practically bared her teeth at Angel.

“You fucker!” She punched him once in the chest with her free hand, the other one still clutching the hot soldering gun. Angel recoiled.

“Hey! Don’t touch what you can’t afford!” Cherri paused and slid off her headphones.

“What?” Angel laughed.

“You’re gunna go deaf one of these days, then what are you gunna do? Pretendin’ to listen to people’s shit’s practically your only attractive quality.” Cherri slumped back down on the chair and looked over her work for any mistakes that she might have slipped when she had been surprised.

“Fuck you Angel.” Angel grinned and presented a bag.

“Gotcha somethin’.” Cherri paused her work and took it from him.

“What is it?” Angel shrugged and moved over to sit on the sofa and stretch out, leaving Cherri clutching the bag and looking suspicious.

“I swear if its another fuckin’ dild-... oh…” She had pulled out a rather comfy looking hoody that had ‘Rocker Chick’ written across the back. Angel had lounged out sideways and was now looking at the ceiling.

“I remember ya saying it gets drafty and shit… so y’know… last job paid out well so I thought… fuck it! Can’t spend it all on booze and blow.” Cherri took a moment to look at it before discarding the bag and throwing the piece of clothing over her head and poking her arms through, the hood just about managed to contain her voluptuous hair and puffed out the back, her large red eye turned to look at Angel, sunken into the warm material that seemed to caress her cheeks as she grinned at him.

“Thanks babe.” Angel shrugged.

“Told ya, it’s nothin’... just remembered something ya said is all.”

“Well… ya want a beer?” Angel sat up.

“Sure, my buzz is starting to wear off anyway.” As Cherri got up and started to head past the dining room to the swinging double doors to where the kitchen and the fridges were located. Most of the appliances were ruined when Cherri had arrived, but with enough spare parts and a bit of duct tape she had cobbled together enough to get a couple of them working. Even if there was half a gas leak and the refrigerator banged and shook around. Moving back She tossed the bear straight through the air, Angel caught the bottle before cracking its neck on the edge table in front of him and taking a long drink, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand he shuffled over so Cherri could curl up on the sofa, sitting on her legs and snuggling down in her new jumper.

“Ya know… if ya had yourself a squeeze you wouldn’t need me to get you all this shit.” Cherri huffed and retreated further into the hoodie.

“Fucking hell Angel… c’mon.” Angel took another sip and completely ignored how Cherri seemed to be shrinking away from the conversation.

“C’mon babes, I don’t mean like forever-ever after shit. You know fairy tale love ain’t fuckin’ real. Someone to warm ya bed, get me?” Cherri had her arms folded.

“Yeah, sure Angel… C’mon, just drop it already.” Angel shrugged.

“Whatever babes, just think you’ve got a serious dry spell.”


	4. Vaggie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another one joins the fray, trying to find their place in the universe.

How long had it been? Chained in the dark… periods of starvation only broke when the princess of hell would bring food or water, opening the door and flooding the small chamber with light so bright it almost blinded her eye. Or when she would clean the filth that had accumulated on her body. Shame so fierce it felt like a scalding hot lump searing across her skin as she was reduced to a mewling mess, eagerly snapping up at the spoon offered to her, or how Charlie would sing soft praises on how well she was doing. 

The princess was the only visitor she ever got and the rest of the time she hung limply from the ceiling in chains in the pitch black. Time lost all meaning, long periods of nothingness. Eventually she simply stopped responding, even with the princess in the room.

“Are you hungry?” Charlie enquired knowing full well the answer was yes, Lucifer had said that this was to be Charlie’s 'project' and forbade any of the staff to cook, clean or interact with Charlie’s ‘guest’ in any way. The angel turned their head away and refused to speak, she hadn’t uttered a single word since waking up in this horrific reality that was her small, cramped cell. Charlie sighed and clattered the spoon back into the bowl of soup she had brought.

“Do you think it helps? Being silent, why don’t you talk?” There was no response and the prisoner just closed their eye and prayed silently to be left alone, the silent torment was nothing compared to being face to face with the creature responsible for their capture and imprisonment, the reason why they weren’t in heaven with their brothers and sisters in arms. Charlie let out a long sigh and straightened up, before collecting the bowl and leaving.

“I’ll come by tonight, maybe you’ll be hungry then” The door swung shut with a groan and the room fell into complete darkness once more. She relaxed and the chains clunked and banged together as she went limp, wrists and ankles were already a mass of tiny lacerations where the cuffs had irritated the skin to the point of infection, nothing that wouldn’t heal by itself but a constant source of irritation, no doubt a wonderful treat for all those who were locked down here. She uttered a silent prayer for salvation, knowing that it would go unanswered, salvation of self was never a creed that was followed, but knowing that her prayer might be heard helped strengthen her resolve, and lessen the starving pain in her stomach. Trying her best to hold onto hope with both hands, but things were getting harder and harder, no light at the end of this tunnel, just a dark solitary cell. It felt as though that tiny bit of hope was slipping through her fingers like running water. 

Maybe that same day, maybe another day the door opened again and Charlie entered once more with this time a plate with a sandwich on it and a glass of water that she held on a tray. 

“Hi again.” No response, but it looked like Charlie hadn’t expected one as she continued into the room and the door shut behind her, conjuring a fist size ball of fire that danced around her shoulders to illuminate the small room with a flickering light.

“I spoke to my dad you know, asking why you were so silent… he said you were probably praying to be saved or something, he… well he made quite a few jokes, buuut! It got me thinking? Do you hear prayers? Is it like a letter in your head that you can read whenever they pop in?” The Angel shifted her head around and raked a glance at the princess, the way she stood with such an innocent and curious look on her face, nothing like the bloodstained abomination that had torn apart, god knows how many good, decent angels.

“It doesn’t work like that.” She was almost surprised at how she sounded, voice cracked and broken from disuse. Coarse and throaty, nothing like how she used to sound, but by the look on Charlie’s face the blonde haired girl was the most surprised of all and her face lit up with glee at hearing words spoken to the first time since arriving. 

“Well, what is it like then?” She seemed eager, too eager. The Angel let her head hang low as she regretted saying anything. Charlie sighed.

“Are you hungry this time? I brought you something else… I made it myself. So that’s why it's a little… y’know.” The sandwich Charlie offered was wonky, bread cut in irregular slices and unevenly spread across. 

“Why are you doing this?” Charlie paused, to pay utmost attention to every single word the angel muttered not wanting to miss a thing.

“Doing what?” 

“Feeding me.” Charlie furrowed her brow and shrugged.

“You can’t answer questions if you starve, can you?” The angel shook their head, this felt wrong.

“Why aren’t you torturing me?” Charlie offered a small smile as she placed the plate by her feet. 

“Because I don’t think we’ll get anything useful from that.” Charlie also wasn’t that great at torturing and her skills were woefully lacking with what her father had hoped for her by now, and since she couldn’t ask him for help, Charlie simply pretended it was never an option to begin with. The angel didn’t respond and turned her head to look at the floor.

“So are you going to eat, or not?” Charlie had folded her arms and was waiting, without making a noise the captive simply nodded and Charlie gave a single clap to celebrate the progress, a small conversation and agreeing to eat. Today was a good day. Gripping the sandwich and offering it forward as if she was feeding an animal at the zoo, her chained prisoner leant against the chains to take a reserved bite, unwilling to look at Charlie’s face she shut her eye and chewed as carefully as she could whilst her stomach screamed for more and with the urge to just lunge to try and snap up as much of the sandwich as possible. It took several minutes before the entire sandwich was gone and Charlie silently offered the glass and waited for the small nod before tilting it towards the captives lips allowing her to drain the small container. 

“See? It’s not poisoned.” a small joke that was not reciprocated with even a smile. Charlie let out a sigh and stretched out her arms above her head and let her hair sway as she resumed her bouncing on the balls of her feet. Several awkward minutes passed, whilst the conjured hellfire was slowly irritating the angel progressively worse as Charlie hummed a tune or gently tapped a rhythm on her legs.

“What do you want?” They finally snapped and Charlie met their accusatory gaze with her own soft features, not wanting to intimidate or coerce. 

“Get to know you… learn about what heaven is like… It’s not like I can ask my dad, he refuses to talk about it and he’s stubborn as a mule… I want to learn, try and understand why you’re like you are. If I'm going to rule someday, I want to know why heaven kills my people.” The Angel shook her head and Charlie rolled her eyes.

“I mean... I don’t mean all of that right now… we’ll get there, how about starting with your name? I still don’t know it.” There was a long pause.

“Take these chains off and I’ll tell you.” the corners of Charlie’s mouth turned up into a small smile.

“And have you escape, I’m not that naive, and even if I did and even *if* you managed to escape, where would you go? It’s almost a year until the next extermination and those portals will stay closed, a single weaponless exterminator? You’ll be torn to pieces out there… or worse. You’re safe here.” The Angel went limp, Charlie was right of course and even the thought of lying to try and trick her way to freedom was leaving a bitter taste in the back of her throat, it was underhanded, and something that they were all taught against, but then why was it the first thing that came to mind, to say anything to try and escape. Charlie retrieved the tray and made for the door, as it was closing and the darkness began creeping back to cover the room, the angel quietly called out.

“Vagatha…” Charlie smiled.

“Hello Vagatha.” The door shut and all light and sound was instantly extinguished. 

***

“Because they’re sinners!”

“I’m not arguing that, but they have already been punished, what’s the point!?” Charlie was sitting in a chair, its back pressed up against the wall opposite where Vagatha was chained, the small orb of fire that circled the room was darting faster and faster as their argument increased in pitch as neither stood down.

“Because it was decreed! They need to be cleansed!” Charlie threw her arms out wide.

“But why! When they died they were judged, they were punished then! Sent down here, are you saying that denial from heaven isn’t enough, that you need to punish these souls more?” Vagatha strained against her chains in an attempt to alleviate the ache in her joints that had settled in.

“Because they are all guilty of sin! They don’t deserve mercy from heaven’s justice.” Charlie snorted in a derived manner.

“Justice? Cruelty more like! You are all hiding behind a false superiority, you think you’re better than us! But it's only because you can punish souls, they are already damned and some try to make an existence out of it and you… you, butchers! Swoop in and carve up as many as you can, because why? Scared we might escape? No one leaves this place.” Vagatha clenched her fingers together in a fist that she wished she could get free.

“Unlike you hellspawn we do not doubt our place in the cosmos, God almighty gave us purpose.” Charlie let out a dry laugh.

“Oh yes because that absolves you of having to think… You follow your orders, you kill because you’re told to, not once caring about what lives you ruin or what damage you do. You follow a tyrant, God is a dictator.”

“DO NOT INSULT HIS NAME!” Charlie was standing and took steps to cross the distance between them and yelled into Vagatha’s face.

“WHY?! Because he’ll smite me? Pur-lease. God doesn’t care what happens down here, only that we’re kept in this box and slaughtered like cattle, he doesn’t listen, he doesn’t care!” Face getting flushed, struggling and shouting back, Vagatha couldn't stop her breathing from getting erratic. 

“That’s not true, God loves all his Chi-” 

“Then why did he let you get taken? Why did no other angels come to your rescue, if I had to try and drag you and fight I would have had to leave you… but they didn’t even try, as soon as it was time all your angel buddies left you behind.” 

“It was their duty!” Charlie nodded along her expression as her words dripped with sarcasm.

“Oh their duty… all children of god, except when one needs help and they leave her behind! You never did explain to me, do your prayers get answered? Or are you ignored down here, abandoned!” 

“S-SHUT UP! YOU’RE TRYING TO TRICK ME!” Charlie took a deep breath, stepped back and steadied herself.

“It looks like the only person deceiving you, is you. I think we’re done… I’ll be back with food later.” The fire went out and Charlie left and shut the door quickly and without saying anything else.

Vagatha was taking deep ragged breaths as her limbs shook uncontrollably, she had been prodded and provoked, that’s all it was as she tried desperately to calm down, to hold onto that hope, her prayers that she had not been abandoned, but even now something horrible was worming its way around her guts, and the seeds of something horrible had been planted.

That evening when Charlie returned, neither said a single word, Vaggie ate the meal that she was offered and Charlie quickly cleaned up, wiped a damp cloth around the sores that nestled around Vagatha's wrists and ankles and left silently. With nothing else but to now wait for her next visit, Vagatha shook once more, teeth gritted and head hung low as she tried desperately not to sob.

***

Days turned to weeks, the routine was similar each time, Charlie would feed Vagatha regularly enough for her not to suffer with hunger pains but always accept each meal offered, and occasionally Charlie would sit down and would ask questions, raging from the simple things to full-blown screaming matches as ideologies clashed, this time however Charlie had opted for a simple topic. 

“What does heaven look like?” 

“What?” Vagatha tilted her head and was looking at Charlie questioningly as the blonde packed away the dinner things. 

“What does it look like?” Charlie repeated. “I’m sure you don’t just sit in portals waiting all year, what’s it look like, is it all white with fluffy clouds and stuff?” Vagatha paused and shook her head.

“No… Most of the buildings we lived in are grey.” Charlie raised an eyebrow.

“Grey? That sounds dull, surely the arch-angels live in like floating palaces or something, right?” 

“I’ve never seen them.” Charlie was leaning forward as soon as she sat back down in the chair.

“What? How have you never seen them?” 

“Because we’re exterminators… we live in a segregated area of heaven in the lower rings.” 

“But why?” 

“It was decided that since we enter hell repeatedly, they didn’t want us tainting heaven proper… so they built us a special place where we were trained and slept.” Charlie paused and tried her best to not turn this into an argument as it teetered on the edge of one as she held back her instant comments and tried something calmer.

“And who decided that? Was it an exterminator?” 

“No, Arch-angel Gabriel.” Charlie's eyes were fixed on Vagatha’s.

“So… this Arch-angel decided to separate you all away… for your benefit?” 

“His wisdom protects all heaven.” Charlie finally snapped.

“At the cost of your freedom! You were their slaves.” Vagatha’s eye flared.

“We were given a holy task! It was our duty, our honour to carry it out!” 

“To be locked up when they didn’t need you? Like a tool! They didn’t think anything of you… discarded and kept locked away when it was inconvenient to look at you!” Vagatha shook her head.

“That’s not true!”

“Go on then! Tell me why it isn’t!? Tell me why the people of hell, who you condemn have more freedom than you ever could!?” Vagatha’s opened her mouth and closed it in quick succession.

“It’s not like th- We were given purpose-... I, I...” Charlie picked up the tray and left again without a second word or glance back as Vagatha failed to answer the question and was rapidly scanning the room as if the answer would appear before her, when the door shut and she was in total darkness, she screwed her eye shut tight and prayed.

“Please… please answer me, let me know… I’m not alone, please?” But there was no answer, the regular feeling that buzzed around the back of her head when she was with the angelic host had been muted for a long time now, there was no response and the feeling seemed to swallow Vagatha up, she felt to be falling into a pit, her chains tying her to her sorrow. She could no longer feel heaven’s light and in its absence there was nothing but the cold grey void of her anguish. 

The next time Charlie visited, the door opened as it usually did and Charlie called her greetings out.

“Hi Vagatha, porridge this mor-...” The suspended angel turned her head to look more properly as Charlie halted mid-sentence. 

“What is it?” Charlie said nothing but moved close enough that she was almost touching Vaggie’s face as she stared intently into her eye. Vagatha blinked once.

“What?” Charlie still said nothing but reached across and with a wave of her hand the chains holding Vagatha’s arms turned into wisps of smoke that dispersed into the air. Surprised by gravity suddenly grasping her arms once more Vagatha fell forwards with a lurch onto the floor. Hey eye fell to the red sores that surrounded her wrists and she gingerly touched them before wincing. 

Still chained by the legs but it allowed her to kneel on the floor to get into a comfortable position and her muscles screamed as they properly moved and her joints bent for the first time in she didn’t know how long. Charlie slid the tray of food towards her.

“I’m going to get a bed installed in here.” Vagatha was still confused and unsure what was happening.

“I thought you didn’t want me escaping?” Charlie had already made her way to the door.

“You won’t.” She stated simply before leaving and the cell was black once more. Vagatha was still idly rubbing her wrists when she blindly placed a hand carefully on the floor and felt around for the tray, her hand nudged it slightly and she crept fingers around it until she could pull the bowl and spoon towards herself and began the cautious task of feeding herself in the darkness. It took less than an hour before the door opened once more and Vaggie shrunk back slightly, her chains coiling and looping over one another and clattering around as Charlie managed to drag a metal cot through the doorway, she was frowning as she did it and managed to push the entire thing into one of the corners before straightening up and grimacing.

“I was hoping someone could give me a hand… but dad’s orders still stand, has to be just me… stubborn.” Vagatha cautiously stood and stared straight at the princess.

“What’s happening?” Charlie looked across and down to the empty tray before gazing back at Vaggie.

“I’m getting you a bed. Mattress is out in the hall.” She went to turn but Vagatha took steps forward until the chains against her legs straightened and stopped her moving closer.

“Why are you doing this!?” Charlie paused.

“Because you’ll need a bed.” 

“What do you mean, I’ll need a bed? What aren’t you telling me?” Charlie didn’t answer as she left before dragging a mattress in and throwing it roughly on the frame, she leant closer and straightened it. Vagatha still couldn’t reach the bed, being in the corner of the room. Her good wing stretched out as she tried to make herself slightly larger.

“What aren’t you telling me!?” She tried again with a louder tone and Charlie actually stopped her fussing with the corners of the mattress.

“You’re sick, you’ll need to lay down.” Vagatha blinked hard, unable to comprehend the statement.

“I’m not sick, angels don’t get sick.” Charlie had started to move towards Vagatha and paused next to her chains.

“I know that, please don’t try anything… you know what’ll happen.” With another wave of her hand the chains disappeared and Vagatha stumbled slightly, no longer held back, for one terrifying long second she glanced at the door just past Charlie and in that instant fought with the urge to try and flee, malnourished with an injured wing, she wouldn’t get past the princess, but attempting it would be a sure fire way to probably end chained again or worse. Charlie stood up and the pair looked at each other for a long time as the awkward seconds ticked on by, Charlie took a single step back almost relieved even if she didn’t show it on her face.

“Okay… well, I guess I’ll see you later.” The door was shut and darkness flooded back. Vagatha took a long time before she shuffled one foot forward, then another, and she cautiously slid her feet across the room before her foot connected with the base of the metal frame, she bent down and felt out the bed before sitting on it. Her body felt like it was screaming as something comfortable cushioned her for once. Cautiously shifting her weight around she went to lay on her back and almost let out a pained scream as weight was put on her still maimed wing for the first time since Lucifer shattered it. Straight back awake and with a sharp stabbing pain surging across her back, Vagatha shuffled to her side and rested back. Her good wing was able to take her weight as she rested on her side, staring with an open eye into the black void and wondering confused, what had changed? Why was the princess doing so much… What did she know?

It started as an ache, deep in her guts, it squirmed and writhed like something had burrowed its way inside her body and was taking root. Uncomfortable and bloated, Vagatha clutched a hand to her stomach and gently massaged the area, hoping for some relief now that her hands were free, it offered no relief and soon she was curling up on the single mattress and let out pained gasps. A few hours later Vagatha was shaking and shivering uncontrollably, when the door opened again and Charlie returned with a rag and a bowl of hot water. Vagatha tried to sit up to try and face the princess but could just about prop herself up with an elbow.

“W-What have you d-done to me?” Charlie conjured a flame, far smaller and dimmer than what she usually used to illuminate the room and placed the water by the base of the metal bed frame.

“I haven’t done anything, hold still.” Charlie reached across to clasp around one of Vagatha’s wrists and pull it towards herself so she could wash the sweat and dirt from it, but the prone angel pulled harshly away.

“N-No, y-you’ve poisoned me! Stay a-away from me!” Charlie paused, sighed and reached over and tugged the arm back, more insistently.

“I’ve done no such thing, now hold still.” Vagatha did not hold still and tried to feebly squirm.

“Why s-should I trust you?” 

“Because, I haven’t lied to you yet, why would I start now?” 

“J-Just t-tricks… you want to w-watch me s-suffer.” Charlie let out a snort of amusement. 

“Please, would I go through all of this effort, just to do something now? Cook for you, clean you? I’m the daughter of pride, give me a little credit.” Vagatha was gritting her teeth and shaking her head.

“It’s j-just more t-tricks, it's just m-more tri-” Vagatha hunched hard before vomiting onto the floor, Charlie let out a small yell and hopped back. 

“Now look, you’re making it worse! Just lay back and let me deal with this.” Vagatha was still determined not to let Charlie touch her, despite the retching in her throat, the fatigue and shivers she tried to keep Charlie at arms length as she struggled and sweated. Eventually Charlie threw her hands up to the ceiling and stepped back.

“Fine! You do it yourself then.” She dropped the cloth in the water with a sodden splash and stepped out before slamming the door with a frustrated growl. Vagatha stayed as still as she could, her whole body heaving and shaking from the over exertion as she stared out into the darkness where the door was. Several minutes passed before she tried to move again, her simple cloth was sticking to her sweating and trembling body. Blindly and cautiously she reached past the bed frame and placed a hand on the ground hoping to find the bowl and not the vomit. Fingers touched the surface of the cooling water and she shrank back, it felt ice-cold. Her fever had skyrocketed, pushing past the small discomfort she fished out the rag and wrung it of most of the moisture before applying to her damp face, the cooling relief washed over, and dunking it and wringing it out again she dutifully wiped herself down in the dark, before leaving the rag on the floor. 

Curling back up to try and gain some warmth, her body shook and trembled and her teeth were rattling inside her head. Every part of her felt nauseous or clammy and the idea that somehow this room had been turned into a freezer, fingers were worming and pressing against the mattress desperately trying to search for warm, so desperate and relentless that her fingernails snagged and tore at the fabric and with a surprise her hand slipped inside the mattress itself, surrounded by stuffing and springs and it felt so much better. With a horrible and wracking cough Vagatha sat up and began to tear at the mattress, pulling out wads of stuffing and springs and throwing them to one side, before she started to climb inside the excavated section she had made. It was uncomfortable, painful even as her body pressed against the metal frame inside the makeshift cocoon, but clutching at the tear Vagatha tried to shut herself off from the world, screwing her eye shut tight, shivering and feeling like her organs were trying to rearrange themselves. Her fever spiked and delirium set in as she twitched and convulsed inside the mattress, long periods of time were taken by bouts of unconsciousness, not rest but where everything seemed to go mute for a while as she clawed and scratched at her own skin, fingernails having a disgusting coat of red under them as she rubbed herself raw. 

She couldn’t even recall Charlie returning, but odd moments where there would suddenly be light and then maybe her body getting shifted around as she desperately tried to stay warm and hidden away in the nest she had made. 

Light, black, light, black. Her eye was unfocused and could only manage to track the changes in front of her as she convulsed once more and the horrible stench of rotting meat, that started off as a small scent had begun to permeate everything around her. Snapping awake, Vagatha felt more alert than she ever had; she shifted ever so slightly and then recoiled in disgust as she nudged into something wet and warm. Whatever it was released an unholy stench as it was disturbed and she gagged and started to claw her way out of the mattress before rolling off it and collapsing to her knees on the floor. Blind she felt for the wall and started to stand, knees shaking as she stood up to her full height. How long had she been in that thing, even now she could smell it and gagged again. Shuffling around, holding onto the wall for guidance she passed by the door and moved to the opposite side of the room away from the bed to try and get away from that smell. It even lingered on the rags she wore and disgusted in herself quickly pulled them over her head and tossed them away. The air wasn’t as cold, or her fever had gone because her naked body wasn’t trembling or shaking. Stretching out her legs, she wished she knew exactly what had happened, and why she wasn’t feeling so awful now.

When the door finally opened and light spilled it in made Vagatha wince and shield her hand over her face.

“I’ve got some… food… for you.” Charlie had halted as she saw the bed abandoned before turning slowly to look at Vagatha crouched in the corner.

“How, erm. How are you feeling?” Charlie asked as she carefully set the tray down, she seemed to be more guarded than usual and was watching very cautiously. As Vagatha’s eye adjusted to the light, the arm she had held out to shield her from it came into sharper relief, then there was the sudden gasp. What had once been pure and almost alabaster was now grey, eye frantically glancing down, following her arm to her body, everything was grey, and what she had assumed to be a feather wing she was sitting on was long strands of silvery hair, standing up frantically she span in the spot trying to extended her wings out and see them, a horrible thought filled her head and she clasped her free hands to try and touch her shoulder blades, and let out a horrible sob when smooth skin and not the base of her wings was all that she could feel, that sudden sickening feeling came back as her sight fell back onto the mess of a mattress she had been in… and that rotting smell, that horrible smell. Taking one step followed by another timid pace she edged towards the foot of the bed, Charlie was watching silently and not moving a muscle. Now at the base of the bed Vagatha could see inside what she had been sleeping in, sloughed off skin, like a pupa lined the indentation and inside it rotting meat and discoloured feathers, covering her hands over her mouth as she was assaulted by the smell, even now the mass of bone and meat seemed to be atrophying into nothingness, reducing down into a sludge. Limbs trembling, Vagatha turned her attention finally to Charlie, and she took one look at the princess and spoke out so quietly and brokenly.

“W-What have you done to me?” Charlie gave a soft smile, and for once it didn’t seem contrived or false.

“I told you, I really didn’t do anything… you, well you lost your faith.” Vagatha stood still and shook her head, unbelieving and unwilling.

“N-No, this is just a trick… you’re doing something, this is all a trick!” Charlie frowned and then took a glance towards the exit.

“Let’s get you dressed and then I’m going to…” She trailed off as she glanced at the discarded cloth on the floor, what Vagatha had assumed to be sodden with sweat was actually smeared with what must have once been skin that had turned into a paste, she almost gagged again.

“I’ll be back soon.” Charlie spoke as she quickly turned and left. Vagatha collapsed to her knees taking in large lungfuls of air and hoping that the hallucination would wear off soon. It wasn’t long before Charlie returned holding a short white frock. She offered it and when Vagatha did nothing but stare despondent at the floor Charlie bunched it up before slipping it over Vagatha’s head and feeding her arms through the sleeves.

“Come on, let's go for a walk.” Charlie straightened up and offered her hand down, Vagatha looked at it for a moment before reaching out to take it, freezing at the stranger's arm that seemed to be extending from her body, A stranger in her own body. Charlie took the lead and lead Vagatha straight out into the corridor attached to her cell, her whole world had been four small walls for so long and instantly was expanding, it almost gave her vertigo how the corridor extended beyond sight, it caused her to falter and stumble when Charlie didn’t slow down and tugged on her.

“Keep up.” Was the simple phrase that should have been so easy if it weren’t for everything that was tumbling around her head. It was all a blur, being led up a staircase and into the palace’s main halls, coloured glass, hanging portraits and dazzling chandeliers. Another set of stairs and then the slow creak of a handle as Charlie ushered them into a balcony, the hot dry infernal winds whipped around and the sounds of the city filtered in, occasional beats of music from the clubs, cars screeching and gunfire, howls punctuated the lulls in noise. Vagatha used both hands now that Charlie had let her go to hold onto the banister and gasped only managing short sharp stabs of breath and the hellish air that she was surrounded by. Charlie’s frown was just about visible from Vagatha’s peripheral vision.

“Don’t fight it, just take a slow deep breath.” Vagatha scrunched her face and shook her head and Charlie rolled her eyes.

“I haven’t lied to you yet.” Vagatha’s brow furrowed as she glanced at Charlie before turning her head to properly look at the princess who seemed calm and at peace with everything around her. So against her gut instinct not to trust the spawn of Lucifer, Vagatha stopped, cleared her mind and took a long, slow, steady breath. It didn’t burn like it had done once before, it soothed and nourished not irritated and befouled. She held it for a few seconds and then expelled it slowly over the course of a few seconds. The surrounding air was natural, it fitted her body like a glove, her changed body.

“I’m lost.” She stated flatly, Charlie took a step closer and rested on the railing too.

“I would say you’re found.” The wind seemed to pick up and caught the tendrils of Vagatha’s new long silvery hair and lifted it to gently blow past the railing, dancing in a wind that overlooked a city full of sinners. Still feeling a wrongness with seeing her own hands, Vagatha gathered her loose hair and held it. 

“How did you do it? How did you make me fall.” 

“I already said, didn’t I? I haven’t done anything. I think, maybe you saw that heaven wasn’t what you were told it was.” 

“And how did I see that? Locked up in a cell, you did this to me.” Charlie ran a finger up into her own hair and slid through it as she thought about how to phrase her response.

“I know it’ll be easiest to blame me, but that won’t help… I did a lot of reading about angels… do you have any idea how hard getting those books were? My extended family are a mess.” Charlie shuddered momentarily having to deal with one of her seemingly endless cousins, she shook out of it quickly enough. “Anyway I can’t force you to fall, you have to give it up on your own, normally it would be through a deal but I never offered one… maybe something I said made you? Can you remember?” Vagatha turned and let out a quiet huff.

“You constantly put doubts into my head! Then when I prayed and I heard nothing… I… I…”

“Lost hope?” Vagatha crossed her arms and stared daggers at the princess.

“Yes! And that one moment of weakness I’ve been eternally damned… I have nothing! No hope, no home… nothing!” Vagatha ran out of words and just stared lifeless out towards the city filled with the creatures she despised.Charlie tapped her fingers on the railing and took a moment to try and see exactly where Vagatha was staring off to.

“What if you did have a home?” A short dry, humourless laugh was the response.

“Ha, what, A dark cell in the palace? Why don’t you just do me a favour and push me off this balcony… I can’t fly any more.” Charlie looked a little awkward, before chiming in.

“Actually it wouldn’t do anything… you’re bound to hell now, you’ll just come back.” Vagatha blinked once before slumping across the railing.

“I can’t even die? I’m to be punished here until the end of time?”

“Look at it this way, it's a new start… freedom to be who you want to be.” Charlie gave a hopeful smile and Vagatha almost jolted.

“Why am I even having this conversation with you? Just take me back and lock me up.”

“Maybe I don’t have to?” 

“Feeling guilty all of a sudden? Is that it?” Charlie shook her head.

“Not at all, I locked up an angel so I could learn more, now I’ve got a citizen who I can help.” 

“I'm still the same… I just look different.” Charlie tilted her head.

“Are you sure about that? Normally you’d be shouting about how I’m trying to trick you or calling me hellspawn.” Vagatha’s mouth opened for a retort and then closed again.

“I guess… I dunno.” 

“it's a new start, be who you want to be, not what someone tells you to be… be free.” 

“Like how you’re telling me what to do?” Charlie tried to interject.

“It’s not the sa-”

“Yes, it is. What if I was happy being what I was? Maybe I didn’t care if it was unfair… I had a purpose… now I’ve got nothing!”

“You’ve got everything Vagatha, every choice you make is yours, and only yours now! Life isn’t so bad here you’ll see!” Vagatha huffed and turned away.

“And who made you princess of optimism?” Charlie let out a small laugh.

“Self-appointed.” Vagatha dragged her fingers across the cool metal of the railing as she looked around once more.

“Don’t call me Vagatha… I think she died in that cell.” Charlie nodded.

“Okay… well miss, what’s your name?” Vagatha pondered as she looked out, it was strange that this would be her first truly free decision.

“I like Vaggie.” Charlie gave her a warm smile.

“Well, Vaggie it’s nice to meet you. So if you didn’t have any other ideas, I have a place I think you can stay.” Vaggie turned, eyebrow raised as she rested to place her elbows on the railing.

“Not keeping me prisoner here?” 

“No, I told you… I have no business keeping a denizen hostage… I’d offer you a room here, but with my father about I don’t think you’d want that.” Vaggie nodded.

“... Yeah, no, thanks.” Charlie’s Cheshire smile returned as things seemed to be going well.

“Oh and maybe don’t mention where you’re from… they're not going to take that so well.” Vaggie rolled her eye.

“Oh, yeah ‘Hi, I’m new in town, you might recognize me because I exterminated your friends.’ I’m not an idiot.” Charlie threw up her hands.

“Never said you were, anyway… so I got a place that’s been in my family for a while, I had to check whilst you were going through your change. No one’s used it for decades, and it's going to be better than getting one of those cramped places. To help you adjust. I think it's got a phone there too, in case you need anything, I’ll give you my number.” Vaggie frowned.

“Getting a little ahead of yourself there… let’s just start by looking at the place and then, let me have the choice.” Charlie rubbed at the back of head.

“Yeah, yeah… sorry got a little carried away.” 

“One more thing.”

“Yes?”

“What’s a phone?”


End file.
